Category:July 23, 2009

Oh hi mark

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From Wikinews, the free news source, this is the Audio Wikinews Brief for Thursday, July 23, 2009. I'm Matt Davis, and here are today's current stories.

A 15-year-old schoolboy was found guilty in Lincoln magistrates' court in England yesterday of racial harrassment of a 14-year-old schoolgirl. The case is regarded as a landmark case, the first such case of its kind. The girl, who was of mixed English and African heritage, had already changed schools once to avoid racial abuse. She initially did not report the abuse at the new school, for fear that the boy would turn violent. The girl's parents first learned of it was when she attempted to commit suicide, in January, by taking a combination of stress pills and painkillers. The boy was found guilty after a six-hour trial. He is scheduled for sentencing on August the 13th. Another 15-year-old boy charged with the same offence was found not guilty.

A 65-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the deaths of two Mexican midget wrestlers. Brothers Alejandro and Alberto Perez Jimenez were found dead in their hotel room in Mexico City, Mexico. The brothers' drinks had been spiked with a fatal dose of eye drops and the pair were robbed. The mini wrestlers entered their hotel room with two women. Later, surveillance cameras recorded the two women leaving the hotel alone. The police traced and arrested one of the female suspects by way of a stolen cell phone that belonged to the wrestlers. Police are still searching for the second woman. The female suspect admits meeting the wrestlers but denies poisoning them. Prosecutors say that there are female gangs in Mexico City who drug and rob men.

Sophie Lavers, a 24-year-old from Canberra, has been crowned Miss World Australia in Sydney. She defeated nineteen other finalists to take the prize and will represent Australia at the Miss World event in South Africa. The entrants were judged based on several categories including best talent, healthy body image, sports and fitness and beauty with a purpose. She has been described in the media as having an "amazing figure" and it has been rumoured that she has used this for modelling work. However, Lavers has said that her body has only been modelled for a good cause: "Some do think that, but I have only ever modelled for charity." Lavers is now set to head to Johannesburg for the December 12 global competition. "I've got to get a month of outfits ready and get a talent and another speech and everything. Oh goodness."

Gidget, the chihuahua featured in the Taco Bell adverts in the United States has died from a stroke. The dog died at the age of 15 on Tuesday night. The dog was featured in the 1990's adverts that ran from 1997 to 2000. Gidget was portrayed as a male dog and is remembered for the dubbed saying "Yo quiero Taco Bell" which is Spanish for "I want Taco Bell." The advert was meant to be shown only once but was turned into a campaign. Gidget was also featured in Legally Blonde 2 and adverts for the board game Trivial Pursuit.

FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association has fined the Ivorian Football Federation $47,000 over the stadium disaster on March 29. Between 20 to 22 football fans died and over 130 injured as 36,000 fans packed into the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium to see the Ivory Coast face Malawi in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match. The stadium holds a capacity of 34,600. The stampede took place after thousands of fans massed outside the stadium trying to get in and a wall collapsed. The game was played despite the accident and the Ivory Coast won 5-0. The Ivory Coast's government has opened up their own investigation into the disaster.

The Ballymore Cup Quarter Finals were played Wednesday. The Ballymore Cup is a state wide Rugby Union competition in the Australian state of Queensland.

Scores are as follows.

Siena Catholic College 11, Marsden State High School 5

Corinda State High School 0, All Saints Anglican School 44

North Side Christian College 0, John Paul College 47

This has been a News Brief from Wikinews.org, the free news source, and has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license. Until next time, thank you for listening and good day.