Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/Transcripts/May 19, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 05 19 – 1700 UTC

As reported by Nicholas Gerda

May 19, 2005. This is Wikinews.

Breaking News

Adrian reaches hurricane-strength, will strike Central America tonight
Tropical Storm Adrian in the Eastern Pacific Ocean reached hurricane strength this morning, according to readings obtained by the National Hurricane Center from a United States Air Force plane. Adrian is the first hurricane of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season. right now, the center of Adrian is located about 120 miles southwest of San Salvador, El Salvador, moving northeast at 9 mph (15 km/h) with maximum sustained windspeeds of 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The storm is expected to strengthen slightly before making landfall over Central America tonight, most likely over El Salvador, but also causing heavy rain to Guatemala and Honduras. Rainfall totals are expected to reach 10", reaching as high as 20" in isolated locales, which carries the risk of deadly mudslides and flash floods. Signs of Hurricane Adrian have already appeared in coastal regions of Guatemala and El Salvador. The north-easterly track of this storm is extremely unusual. Only 4 tropical systems are recorded to have made landfall in Guatemala or El Salvador since 1966. The only named system ever to do so was Tropical Storm Andres on June 7, 1997, near San Salvador. At the path this storm is taking, it is possible Adrian will cross into the Caribbean Sea and become Tropical Storm Arlene, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, over a week before that season officially begins.

Headlines

Landless Workers Movement marches to Brasilia in protest
Thousands of members of the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST) completed their march to Brasilia on Tuesday, having started their 238 km journey on May 1. They demanded President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva meet land reform promises, and protested against the U.S. government and President George W. Bush. The Brazilian government news agency Agencia Brasil reported that about 12,000 members of MST protested in front of the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia. The group gathered garbage and burnt with it an American flag. According to Rosana Fernandes, an MST representative, they were protesting against American culture, politics and corporations. The MST march to Brasilia was organized by Via Campesina, an international organization in support of rural worker's rights and sustainable agriculture. The MST's leader João Pedro Stedile said that the MST must return home with their batteries recharged and increase the occupation of land in Brazil.

Amazon deforestation accelerating
Figures released by the Brazilian government have shown that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has increased. In the period August 2003 to August 2004, 26,000 square kilometres of the rainforest was felled. This number is up 6% from the 12 month period prior to August 2003. The total proportion of felled Amazon now stands at 17.3%, according to the World Wildlife Fund. This has led many environmentalists to worry that the cattle and soy trade are being put above the environment. The 2003–2004 period saw the second largest tree felling, per area, in the Amazon's history. The worst was 1994–1995. The year prior to August 2003 had been another bad year for deforestation, it now being the third worst in history. Much of the damage has been done in clearing trees to make space for crop land, especially in the worst hit state of Mato Grosso, where almost half of last year's deforestation occurred. This has led Greenpeace to condemn the governor of the state, a soya business man himself, as "king of deforestation". Much of this crop is exported to Europe and China, which last year led Brazil to declare a trade surplus. The clearing endangers the world's largest home of wildlife, which claims almost 30% of all animal and plant species on earth. There are also implications for the carbon cycle and hence for global warming. The respiration of trees involves the intake of carbon dioxide, and produces oxygen as a byproduct. With fewer trees a balance of CO2 and O2 in the atmosphere is harder to maintain. Increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide could result in global warming.

Kuwait parliament gives women the vote On May 17, 2005, the National Assembly of Kuwait passed, by a majority of 35 to 23 (with 1 absetention), an amendment to its electoral law that would allow women to vote and to stand as parliamentary candidates. Commentators predict that this will increase the number of eligible voters from approximately 139,000 to approximately 339,000, out of a population of approximately 960,000. "We made it. This is history," prominent activist Roula al-Dashti told reporters. "Our target is the parliamentary polls in 2007. I'm starting my campaign from today." Kuwait becomes the fourth Gulf country where women as well as men can vote in elections after Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. Saudi Arabia holds strictly limited, male-only elections. "I hope they are talking about separate ballot boxes and not the imposition of Islamic dress... which infringes on personal freedoms," Kuwait University academic Nada al-Muttawa said. "This is a historic moment for women," Sheikha Suad al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family said.

Wikipedia Current Events

• The death toll in the Marburg virus outbreak in Angola reaches 311.
• Uzbek troops kill over 400 people in Andijan during protests in eastern Uzbekistan over the trials of 23 accused Islamist extremists. President Islam Karimov defends their actions.

Today in History provided by Wikipedia

• 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII of England, was beheaded for adultery.
• 1649 - The Rump Parliament passed an act to formally establish the Commonwealth of England.
• 1802 - The Légion d'honneur was first instituted by Napoléon Bonaparte, First Consul of the French Republic.
• 1921 - The U.S. Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, establishing national quotas on immigration to the United States.
• 1922 - The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union was founded.

Today's fact provided by Wikipedia

Palwankar Baloo was a Dalit (also called Untouchables) who helped break down the Indian caste system with his prowess at cricket.

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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