Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/Transcripts/May 18, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 05 18 – 2200 UTC

May 18, 2005. This is Wikinews.

Breaking News

Tropical Storm Adrian forms in Eastern Pacific, threatens Central America
Tropical Storm Adrian, the first named storm of the 2005 Pacific Hurricane Season, formed 440 miles southwest of Guatemala and El Salvador on Tuesday, and is expected to track northeast towards Central America. A tropical storm watch is in effect for the entire coast of El Salvador and the pacific coast of Guatemala. A tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch may be required for portions of El Salvador and Guatemala later today. At 11 am today, the storm had sustained winds of 60 mph, with gusts at higher speeds. The current location of the storm is 10.9° N, 92.9° W; about 270 miles southwest of the Guatemala-El Salvador border. Additional strengthening is expected over the next 24 hours; it is expected to make landfall over Guatemala and El Salvador tomorrow, bringing heavy rainfall to the region. Meteorologists expect the storm to be in the Carribean by Friday.

Headlines

Hundreds of people gather in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky
As the Russian court was announcing the final decision on the fate of tax-evader Mikhail Khodorkovsky, hundreds of people gathered near the court house to voice their opinion on the matter. A rally was supported by several Russian political parties and groups, including Union of Right Forces, Yabloko, Oborona, Pora!, Smena and others. Among the people who attended the meeting were Garry Kasparov and Irina Khakamada. The total number of participiants, according to officials is estimated at 700 people. The involved parties claim around 1000. The crowd was standing in front of the court house, waving flags of political groups mentioned above and chanting political slogans aimed at the allegedly unfair trial and at the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. One of the chants was "Svobodu!", which means "freedom" in Russian. We have an exclusive audio clip from the scene. Play audio clip. Some passing by cars expressed their solidarity with the crowds by sound signalling, which the crowd appreciated with louder chanting. Some activists rode passing by trams and trolleybuses, waving "Freedom to MBKh" tees and flags from the windows. The meeting lasted for two hours, until police ordered the crowds to go away. Many refused, and militia had to resort to force. 30 people were arrested, including some organizers, and some of them were severely beaten.

Journalist detained at Council of Europe human rights conference in Warsaw
The Council of Europe conference in Warsaw took place during May 16-17, 2005. According to official press releases, it allegedly concerned discussions of human rights in 46 countries in the European region, even though many of the participants, such as Tony Blair and Italian prime minister Berlusconi, were allegedly involved in systematic human rights violations such as war crimes in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the killing of at least 100,000 civilians there. However, despite the protests of about 1000 demonstrators, authorities did not detain either Blair or Berlusconi nor extradite them to the International Criminal Court. In contrast, authorities did arrest 11 human rights activists, including members of Amnesty International and Indymedia. One, an independent journalist from Indymedia, who was continuously filming the events, remains under detention and has been charged by state authorities with assaulting a police officer. The charge is considered to be unfounded by the human rights activists, since the journalist was filming the events virtually continuously, giving him little chance to carry out any violent attacks against the police. In contrast, the charge is considered by human rights activists to be an attempt to suppress independent journalism in Poland, in line with other recent actions against freedom of speech in Poland.

Prime Minister of Ethiopia bans demonstrations following Elections In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi bans demonstrations in the capital Addis Ababa for one month after Sunday's elections. Opposition parties, especially Coalition for Unity and Democracy accuse government of electoral fraud and harassment of their election observers. No results have been published yet.

Wikipedia Current Events

The National Assembly of Kuwait legalizes women's suffrage, allowing all women ages 21 and older, subject to Islamic law, to vote in elections in Kuwait in 2007.
Uzbek troops kill over 400 people in Andijan during protests in eastern Uzbekistan over the trials of 23 accused Islamic extremists. President Islam Karimov defends the act.
In Taiwan, political parties supporting new amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of China win with 249 of 300 seats in the National Assembly election.

Today in History provided by Wikipedia

1268 - Baibars and his Mamluk forces captured Antioch, capital of the crusader state, the Principality of Antioch.
1896 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson, upholding the legality of racial segregation in public transportation.
1944 - World War II: The Battle of Monte Cassino ended with a German evacuation of Monte Cassino.
1958 - A supersonic interceptor aircraft, F-104 Starfighter, set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph.
1980 - Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington, killing 57 people and causing over a billion U.S. dollars in damages.

Today's fact provided by Wikipedia

Quantum praedecessores was a papal bull issued on December 1, 1145 by Pope Eugenius III, calling for a Second Crusade.

Thank you for joining us for today's segment. Join us tomorrow for more headlines, news, facts, and anniversaries; and next week will have our very first Special Report.

I'm Nicholas Gerda.

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