Wikinews

China's premier visits Cairo ahead of China-Africa summit

Saturday, November 7, 2009

China's Premier Wen Jiabao is in Cairo, Egypt, where he held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in preparation for the China-Africa summit that begins on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh.

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Wikinews Shorts: November 7, 2009

A compilation of brief news reports for Saturday, November 7, 2009.

Officials in in the Australian province of New South Wales (NSW) have declared a natural disaster on the country's eastern coast, after torrential rains flooded the area, cutting off major roads and stranding people.

Approximately 40 people were evacuated from the area due to the floods, and NSW emergency services minister Steve Whan declared a natural disaster. Over half a metre (20 inches) of rain fell in the area over two days, according to Whan. He added that this is the fifth significant flooding to affect the area this year.

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Opposition agrees to join Lebanese government

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Lebanese opposition parties, including Hezbollah, have agreed to form a government under designated Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri. "The Lebanese opposition has approved the proposed unity government," said a senior source, after oppositions leaders met late last night. According to the source the new government should be formed within two days.

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Saudi military attacks Yemeni rebels

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Saudi Arabian military forces have continued their five-day attack against Yemeni rebels, leaving seven Saudis and an unknown number of Yemeni dead, according to the state news agency. The military has stated that only rebel forces on Saudi soil have been attacked, in contradiction with previous reports. Rebels have claimed that the military have targeted Yemeni villages.

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Iranian police arrest 109 in protests

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Iranian police arrested 109 people in Tehran during opposition protests which took place alongside an official demonstration to mark thirty years of the storming of the United States embassy during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, according to the capital's police chief.

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Pakistan: Twelve militants killed in recent fighting

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Pakistan's military has said that its soldiers killed twelve militants in recent operations targeting Taliban insurgents in South Waziristan.

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Madagascar political rivals agree to unity government deal

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Four of Madagascar's top political figures signed an agreement on Saturday to form a coalition government, ahead of next year's planned elections.

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At least nine missing after Russian military plane crashes into Pacific

Saturday, November 7, 2009

A Russian military plane crashed today in the Pacific Ocean. At least nine are missing after the turboprop went down in the Strait of Tartary, which is located in the far east of the country.

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NATO airstrike kills seven Afghan security forces members

Saturday, November 7, 2009

A NATO airstrike has killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces in the western province of Badghis on Friday, according to the Afghan defence ministry. "Due to a NATO forces air strike on November 6 in Badghis province seven Afghan security personnel (both Afghan army and national police) were martyred and also some were wounded," the ministry stated. NATO and Afghan authorities are investigating but NATO officials have yet to comment.

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UN: Ethiopian GDP grew only 1.7% in 2009, may not reach anti-poverty goals

Saturday, November 7, 2009

According to the United Nations, the Ethiopian gross domestic product (GDP) for 2009 increased by 1.7%. UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said that the country might not be able to meet its 2015 anti-poverty goals due to the worldwide economic slowdown.

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Glenn Beck loses domain name case over parody website

Saturday, November 7, 2009

American political commentator Glenn Beck has lost his case against a satirical website which parodies him, in a ruling from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The website argued Beck's actions to shut it down were an attempt to to silence free speech. On Friday, the website's creator sent a letter to Beck saying he would voluntarily turn over the domain name to him.

Florida resident Isaac Eiland-Hall created the website in September, and it asserts Beck uses questionable tactics "to spread lies and misinformation". The website was represented in the case Beck v. Eiland-Hall by free speech lawyer Marc Randazza. Wikinews interviewed Randazza for the article "US free speech lawyer Marc Randazza discusses Glenn Beck parody", and previously reported on the case in articles, "US free speech lawyer defends satire of Glenn Beck" and "Satirical website criticizes Glenn Beck for 'hypocritical' attempts to silence free speech".

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New Jersey jury convicts Florida man who claimed he was too fat for murder

Saturday, November 7, 2009

A jury at a court in New Jersey, United States has convicted Florida resident Edward Ates of the murder of his ex-son-in-law. Ates, who was five feet eight inches tall and weighed 285 pounds at the time, had used the defence that he was too fat to kill.

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BBC's Strictly Come Dancing to be broadcast from Blackpool Tower

Saturday, November 7, 2009

BBC television programme Strictly Come Dancing is to be broadcast from the Blackpool Tower in the county of Lancashire in England.

The ballroom in the famous tower, which is located in the city of Blackpool, is where the show will be broadcast from on Saturday night on BBC One. The show was previously broadcast from there in 2004, at the end of series two. There are currently nine couples remaining in the current series. All of the celebrities — including actor Craig Kelly, actresses Laila Rouass and Ali Bastian — arrived in the city of Blackpool on Wednesday.

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WHO states H1N1 swine flu world's most dominant virus

Friday, November 6, 2009

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu, has become the dominant flu strain in the world.

In a briefing with reporters Thursday, WHO Special Pandemic Influenza Advisor Keiji Fukuda said the virus has been particularly active in the Northern Hemisphere in recent months. He added that he expects the trend to continue through the winter months, with more severe cases and even deaths.

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Ousted Honduran president says crisis deal has failed

Friday, November 6, 2009

An aide to ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said that a deal designed to end the country's political crisis has failed, after interim leader Roberto Micheletti announced the formation of a new cabinet.

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Wikinews discusses the H1N1 pandemic with the CDC

Friday, November 6, 2009

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a US government agency. In an interview with Wikinews, Jeff Dimond, a member of the Division of Media Relations for the CDC, answered a few question regarding the current situation of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic.

The CDC reported that during week 42 (October 18–24) of this year, the swine flu activity increased in the United States with 19 confirmed deaths by swine flu, while week 43 (Oct. 25–31) faced 15 confirmed deaths.

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UN endorses Israel-Palestinian war crimes report

Friday, November 6, 2009

After two days of debate, the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly endorsed a report from the Human Rights Council calling for domestic investigations into alleged war crimes committed by both Israel's military and Palestinian armed forces during the Gaza conflict that began last December.

The controversial report concluded that Israel used disproportionate force in the war, deliberately targeted Gaza civilians, used them as human shields, and destroyed civilian infrastructure. One of the 31 chapters of the report discussed crimes by Hamas for firing rockets into Israeli towns.

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Zimbabwe prime minister Tsvangirai ends cabinet boycott

Friday, November 6, 2009

Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister of Zimbabwe, said on Thursday that he was calling off his boycott of the coalition government with president Robert Mugabe. The prime minister said he was giving Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party 30 days to work on "the pertinent issues we are concerned about".

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US unemployment rate surpasses 10%

Friday, November 6, 2009

The unemployment rate in the United States has surpassed ten percent, according to figures released by the US Department of Labor on Friday.

The jobless rate, now at 10.2%, is the highest it has been since April 1983, and was an increase over September's level of 9.8%. 190,000 jobs in total were lost last month, and 8.2 million total people have become unemployed since the recession officially began in December 2007.

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Olympic condoms auctioned: "faster, higher, stronger"

Friday, November 6, 2009

Sports memorabilia collector Zhao Xiaokai has amassed 5,000 condoms left over from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and is offering them for sale at auction. Each condom is stamped with the motto of the Olympics in English and in Chinese: "faster, higher, stronger". The Beijing Olympics condoms are offered for sale as part of an auction of Olympic memorabilia. Starting price is one yuan, which is equivalent to US$0.15 or £0.08. The condoms will be sold as a batch.

The 5,000 Olympic condoms are the remainder of a 100,000 production run that were distributed free of charge to athletes who competed in the games. Olympic organizers have been providing free condoms to athletes since the Barcelona Olympics of 1992.

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Four people die after contracting H1N1 swine flu virus in West Midlands, England

Friday, November 6, 2009

Four people from the NHS West Midlands in England have died after contracting the H1N1 swine flu virus. With these deaths, the number of people that have been killed in the West Midlands from the disease has now increased to 19.

NHS West Midlands has said that the number of people admitted to hospitals in the region with the disease this week was 203, whereas last week there were 146. It was also said that the number of inpatients taken into hospitals in the area was 95 from this Wednesday onwards.

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Shooting rampage in Orlando, Florida leaves one dead, seven injured

Friday, November 6, 2009

At least one person was killed after a shooting rampage at the Gateway Center office building in Orlando, Florida, at around 11.30 EST (16.30 UTC), according to authorities.

The gunman, who has been identified as Jason Rodriguez, aged 40, surrendered at his mother's house, after police received reports that he had fled there. He is now in custody. He was described as wearing a light blue polo shirt and jeans. The building where the incident occurred was locked down, and police officers evacuated the building.

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Two NATO soldiers reported missing in Afghanistan, search underway

Friday, November 6, 2009

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan issued a statement on Friday saying that that two of its troops went missing on Wednesday while on a routine supply mission.

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Hurricane Ida comes ashore in Nicaragua

Friday, November 6, 2009

United States weather forecasters say Hurricane Ida, the eleventh storm of the 2009 season, has made landfall in the Central American nation of Nicaragua.

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Saudi Arabia resumes livestock trade with Somalia

Friday, November 6, 2009

The government of Saudi Arabia removed an eleven-year ban on livestock imports from Somalia after fears of Rift Valley Fever were allayed, senior Somali officials said on Thursday.

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22 killed after bus falls into gorge in northern India

Friday, November 6, 2009

22 passengers were killed when a bus rolled down into a deep gorge near Mahua Dabra Haripura of the Kangra district in northern India this morning. 42 more people were injured.

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Stolen minibus recovered 35 years after theft

Friday, November 6, 2009

A 1965 Volkswagen minibus that was stolen in 1974 has been recovered by customs agents in Los Angeles. The vintage minibus was in pristine condition, valued at $25,000, and was found during a routine inspection of a shipping container scheduled for departure to The Netherlands. A routine computer database search on its vehicle identification number flagged it as having been stolen from a vehicle upholstery shop in Spokane, Washington on July 12, 1974. A custom restoration business in Arizona was attempting to deliver it to overseas clients last month when authorities intercepted the vehicle.

The theft appeared on the National Insurance Crime Bureau database, which is used by border authorities and contains all stolen vehicle records. Most police databases remove unsolved vehicle thefts after five years.

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Local community on Australian Sunshine Coast compromises with McDonald's

Friday, November 6, 2009

Residents of the suburb of Minyama, Australia have come to a compromise with restaurant chain McDonald's.

A 24 hour store was planned for the suburb but the fast food giant backed down agreeing that the store will only open overnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Every other day it will be open from five in the morning to eleven at night.

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