Wikinews:Briefs/August 19, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 08 19 – 1500 UTC

The time is 1500 UTC on Friday 19th August 2005, and this is Audio Wikinews: News Briefs.

Former British Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam dies
Mo Mowlam, the former Secretary for Northern Ireland, died this morning at 07:10 UTC in a hospice after a fall two weeks ago. She was 55.

Mo Mowlam was central to the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement and was popular in Britain for her straightforward approach, informality and honesty.

Rocket attack on USS Ashland docked in Aqaba; another rocket fired at Eilat, Israel
Two Katyusha rockets exploded this morning at 0844 UTC+3 in Aqaba, Jordan, near the USS Ashland, which has been docking at the Aqaba port for the last ten days. One Jordanian soldier was killed. Another rocket exploded in Eilat, Israel.

Former rebel becomes President of Burundi
Pierre Nkurunziza, leader of the former rebel group CNDD-FDD, has been elected unopposed as President of Burundi by the country's Senate and National Assembly. The CNDD-FDD had won landslide victories in communal and national elections earlier this year,

Next Shuttle flight delayed to next year; ISS crew begin spacewalk
Commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips began a planned six-hour spacewalk earlier today, their first in the four months both men have been on the station.

Meanwhile, NASA are delaying the next Shuttle flight until next year so their engineers have time to address the foam problem that occurred during the most recent flight.

Thank you for joining us today. To receive more up-to-date news items as they occur, please visit wikinews.org.

And, be sure to check out our daily full-length audio news program, called Audio Wikinews: Full Report.

This recording has been released into the public domain. This applies worldwide.