Category:June 24, 2009

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 

Audio Wikinews News Brief for June 24, 2009
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From Wikinews, the free news source, this is the Audio Wikinews Brief for Wednesday, June 24, 2009. I'm James Pain, and here are today's current stories.

Iran has expelled two British diplomats. In response, the United Kingdom announced yesterday that in a tit-for-tat move it had called its Iranian ambassador in, to inform Iran that it will be expelling two Iranian diplomats. The expulsions come in the wake of the recent Iranian presidential election, and hostility directed by Iran to the United Kingdom by Iranian leaders and official news services, including statements made by Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei calling the British government the "most evil" of foreign governments. Commenting upon the expulsion as it was announced, Leader of the Opposition in the British House of Commons, David Cameron, urged people to remember that this was not a conflict between Iran and the United Kingdom, but was an internal Iranian conflict, between Iranians and other Iranians.

The BBC claims that they have uncovered allegations of abuse and neglect at Bagram, a United States detention facility in Afghanistan. According to the BBC, they interviewed 27 men over a period of two months. Apparently, only two said they had been treated well, with others claiming they were ill-treated, by use of stress positions, removing their clothes in front of female soldiers or other situations. Four detainees claimed they were threatened with death at gunpoint. Bagram has come under fire before, because it is out of the jurisdiction of many laws banning torture and inhumane treatment and prisoners have no access to lawyers or to a justice system.

Authorities in the Mexican state of Sonora arrested 7 state officials, from the state finance department, yesterday; and charged them with negligent homicide for the deaths of 47 children in a fire at a daycare centre that occurred earlier this month. In 2005, the Hermosillo, Mexico daycare was advised to carry out repairs in a safety inspection went unheeded. It is felt that negligence contributed to the massive fire Friday afternoon, June 5, taking the lives of 47 toddlers and infants and injuring the majority of the 142 children being cared for by 6 staff who were also hospitalized. The owners will be charged with negligence by the state's Finance Department. The Social Security Institute will also begin a civil lawsuit against the owners. The head of the Social Security Institute has stepped down and others have been suspended.

The parliament of Togo has unanimously voted to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who had been campaigning for a global moratorium on the death penalty, witnessed the vote. Zapatero commented on the vote, calling it a “giant step for Togo”. According to human rights organisation Amnesty International, Togo has become the 15th African nation to abolish the death penalty and the 94th country in the world to do so. Those on death row will have the sentence changed to life imprisonment.

An American football coach has been shot at his school gym in Iowa. Ed Thomas was shot in front of his students at around 8.00 am local time. Thomas was in the weight room at the time of the shooting. An adult male has been arrested suspected of his murder. Thomas was well known in the local community for his work. When Parkersburg was hit by a tornado in the summer of 2008 Thomas worked endlessly to restore the damaged football field. County Sherriff Jason Johnson said that “Coach Thomas is the pillar of the community. Anything that affects him affects Parkersburg”. No students were injured during the shooting.

Ed McMahon, the long time announcer of The Tonight Show has died age 86. McMahon who joined The Tonight Show in 1962 died at the Ronald Regan UCLA Medical Centre shortly after midnight on June 23. Made famous by his “Here’s Johnny” catchphrase McMahon worked with Tonight Show host Johnny Carson for 30 years. McMahon is survived by his wife Pam and five children. No funeral arrangements have been made yet.

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.