Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/Transcripts/May 17, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 05 16 – 1730 UTC

As reported by Nicholas Gerda

May 17, 2005. This is Wikinews.

Breaking News

Muslim leaders don't accept "pressured" apology
Newsweek magazine apologized to the victims of last week's deadly protests in Afghanistan, which were sparked when a Newsweek report stated that U.S. officials defiled the Koran. But Islamic parties in Pakistan say the Newsweek apology is a transparent attempt to defuse Muslim anger. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the head of an Islamic party alliance told the BBC that Newsweek's clarification held no weight. "There have been reports by the prisoners who have been released from Guantanamo Bay of desecration of the holy Koran, and different atrocities perpetrated on them. Therefore, the clarification of Newsweek has no meaning." Reuters reported that Muslims said they suspected that pressure from Washington was behind the magazine's backing off. On Monday, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan had criticized Newsweek's initial response to the incident, saying it was "puzzling." A Newsweek reporter said in a Reuters interview that his information was from a "knowlegeable government source".

Headlines

Afghan president calls protesters enemies of progress
After days of bloody protests over a magazine report that U.S. interrogators in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba allegedly desecrated the Koran, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called protesters "enemies" of Afghanistan's progress and its ties with the international community for the violence. The protest over the alleged desecration is not over. The anti-U.S. demonstrations that broke out across Afghanistan have claimed the lives of 16 Afghans while more than 100 have been injured. But Mr. Karzai dismissed suggestions the protests are actually aimed at the presence of U.S and other allied forces in Afghanistan, saying the country would "go back immediately to chaos" if foreign forces left. "Without the strategic partnership with America, Afghanistan will not make it as a sovereign, independent nation able to stand on its own feet," he said. "We are seeking partnership with America, with Europe because we cannot fight tricks, interference - hidden or otherwise - in our country." President Karzai urged the United States to prosecute and punish anyone found guilty of desecrating the Koran, saying such an act is unacceptable to every Muslim. He also claimed that 200 Korans had been burned when a library in Jalalabad was set on fire during the protests.

Ethiopians vote amid opposition charges of fraud
Millions of voters in Ethiopia are choosing between a powerful government which has close ties to the West but is considered by some to be totalitarian, and a coalition of little-known opposition parties that has promised greater political freedom and economic development. The democratic ballot is only the third in the country's history. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is seeking his third five-year term in office. His ruling party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has been in power for 14 years. During that time, the party has not been challenged in this mostly poor, subsistence farming region. The party was the only one listed on the ballot paper in Adwa. The ruling party says none of the major opposition parties bothered to register and campaign for votes in this remote area, but opposition leaders say electoral officials, whom the opposition accuses of being pro-government, would not allow their parties to register or campaign in the area.

Palestinians mark Israel's creation with protests Sirens wailed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as Palestinians marked what they call the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" of Israel's creation in 1948. Traffic came to a standstill and people stopped and observed two-minutes of silence, in solidarity with the 700,000 Palestinians who lost their homes and became refugees. The sirens are reminiscent of observances in Israel marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. Thousands of Palestinians held protest marches, demanding that refugees be allowed to return to their homes in Israel. "We are looking forward to see that the world would support the Palestinians to achieve their national rights and to have their independent state on the 1967 borders," said Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. But Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said peace is faltering because of observances like the Nakba. "The very fact that the Palestinians celebrate the 15th of May, which was the day of the proclamation of the state of Israel, as the day of disaster is very discouraging because it shows a state of mind still disposed to looking at the state of Israel as an obstacle that must be removed, rather than a reality that must be reconciled with," Olmert said.

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

• 1792 - The New York Stock Exchange was formed.
• 1846 - Adolphe Sax patented the saxophone.
• 1902 - The Antikythera mechanism, the oldest known surviving geared mechanism, was discovered in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.
• 1943 - World War II: RAF Dam Busters successfully deployed bouncing bombs in Operation Chastise.
• 1995 - After 18 years as Mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac was inaugurated as President of the French Republic.

Today's fact provided by Wikipedia

Jean Kambanda, prime minister of Rwanda during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, was the first and only head of government to plead guilty to genocide.

Thank you for joining us for today's segment. Join us tomorrow for more headlines, news, facts, and anniversaries.

I'm Nicholas Gerda.

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