Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/Transcripts/May 30, 2005

Audio Wikinews transcript – 2005 05 30 – 0630 UTC
As reported by Nicholas Gerda

May 30, 2005. This is Wikinews.

Lead Story
France votes no in EU referendum In a result expected by many, a 54.87% majority of French voters voted non in Sunday's European Constitution referendum. Of France's 42 million eligible voters, over 70% turned out at the 55 thousand polling stations across the country, which were open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday (except in Paris and Lyon where voting finished at 10 p.m.).

Results

According to polls collected by Sofres, the largest polling organization in France, voters gave the following reasons for voting no: 46% -- Unemployment 40% -- Fed up with the current government 35% -- Constitution should be renegotiated 34% -- Constitution is too economically liberal 34% -- Constitution threatens French identity

The result comes as no surprise to European political commentators as opinion polls had consistently suggested that the "No" camp was on course for a strong victory. Indeed, the last opinion poll before the actual referendum suggested a 56% win for the "No" camp. You can read the entire proposed European Constitution at Wikisource.

Headlines
American Samoa asks again to be removed from U.N. colonies list American Samoa's government delivered another message to United Nations representatives asking to be removed from the U.N.'s list of world colonies. Commerce Department Deputy Director Lelei Peau was participating in a regional seminar held from May 17-19 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by the U.N. Decolonization Committee. The U.N. has promoted decolonization since its founding, particularly since its Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples was adopted in 1960. In 1945, about one-third of the world's population lived in dependent, non-self governing Territories. Today the U.N. lists 16 remaining colonies with fewer than 2 million total people. American Samoa is asking to be removed from that list, on the grounds that it wishes to remain a freely associated territory of the United States. Its position has remained unchanged since the Lieutenant Governor first asked to be removed from the list in 1993. "The position of the people of American Samoa, and its duly elected legislative representatives and government officials is that the current status of the Territory and the United States government is the desired relationship we wish to have," said Governor Togiola T. A. Tulafono last year. His message was delivered to the U.N. Decolonization Committee in their regional seminar held in the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea."It has been a partnership that has aided both our peoples and the bonds of friendship between us are strong. We ask again that American Samoa be delisted as a 'colony' of the United States," said the governor's message.The United States position, expressed to the U.N. General Assembly in 2003, is that its remaining territories are already in large measure self-governing. These territories should be able to choose whether to be independent states as "equal and sovereign partners" of the United States, or remain integrated within the United States.

Citizen groups ask Congress to file formal "Resolution of Inquiry" against Bush A coalition of citizen groups will ask Congress to file a formal "Resolution of Inquiry", the first necessary legal step to determine whether U.S. President Bush has committed impeachable offenses. The request, written by Boston constitutional attorney John C. Bonifaz on behalf of the citizen groups, cites the Downing Street memo and issues surrounding the planning and execution of the Iraq war. The request was written on behalf of several groups, including: Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), 911Citizens Watch, Democracy Rising, Code Pink, Global Exchange, Democrats.com, Velvet Revolution, and Gold Star Families for Peace. It cites the possible grounds for impeachment: "[The President] has not given [the Senate] full information, but has concealed important intelligence which he ought to have communicated, and by that means induced them to enter into measures injurious to their country, and which they would not have consented to had the true state of things been disclosed to them." Bonifaz says that the official minutes of a secret US-UK meeting were the impetus for the request. Those minutes were recently leaked to The Sunday Times, and are popularly known as the "Downing Street memo" or alternatively the "smoking gun memo". In it, British intelligence MI-6 director Richard Dearlove said, "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." The phrase "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." has been the center of attention in reports and discussions surrounding the memo. It has received this attention because critics of the Iraq war believe that it reaffirms their fundamental criticisms: that Bush's decision to go to war was not based on the intelligence, but, rather, intelligence was used selectively and exaggerated, while debunking intelligence was forcefully suppressed, for the sole purpose of rallying consent for the war, and that this was all done deliberately. Bonifaz wrote: "The recent release of the Downing Street Memo provides new and compelling evidence that the President of the United States has been actively engaged in a conspiracy to deceive and mislead the United States Congress and the American people." Some Republican congressmen who had voted for the war have since stated that they believe the war was a mistake. For example, Walter Jones, the coiner of the phrase "freedom fries", is now the most vociferous opponent on Capitol Hill. "If we were given misinformation intentionally by people in this administration, to commit the authority to send boys, and in some instances girls, to go into Iraq, that is wrong," he has stated, "Congress must be told the truth." On May 26th, the group AfterDowningStreet.org launched a campaign to Congress to investigate whether President Bush committed impeachable offenses relating to the Iraq war.

Los Angeles firefighters battle Mt. Washington blaze Saturday evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m. PST on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California, a brush fire broke out on the southwestern side of the hill. Firefighters were on the scene by 8:30 p.m. with fire trucks, paramedic units, surveillance helicopters, and water-equipped helicopters. Two fire trucks blasted water at the blaze from higher up on the mountain, while every minute or so, a water-equipped helicopter would swoop down over the flames and release its payload. At the top of the hill, there were five fire trucks and one paramedic unit; the three main entrances to the mountain were barricaded off by fire trucks. By approximately 9:15 p.m., the flame was entirely extinguished, thanks mainly to the water-equipped helicopters. Firefighters were offering bystanders bottles of water and Gatorade to help combat the effects of standing near an open flame.

Wikipedia Current Events

 * Voters in France reject the European Union's constitutional treaty in a referendum on ratification.
 * Voyager 1, the most distant man-made object, has entered the heliosheath and is on the verge of leaving the solar system and entering the interstellar medium.
 * The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the world's second longest oil pipeline, is opened in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Today in History provided by Wikipedia
May 30 is Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day in Fiji, and Memorial Day in the United States


 * 1431 - Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France.
 * 1434 - Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great were decisively defeated in the Battle of Lipany, effectively ending the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
 * 1536 - Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two queen consorts.
 * 1911 - The first Indianapolis 500 open-wheel automobile race was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.
 * 1967 - Chief Emeka Ojukwu took office as the first President of Biafra, a secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria.

Today's fact provided by Wikipedia
Nippon Steel Corporation, the Japanese steelmaking giant, once ventured into mushroom cultivation in an earnest bid to avoid layoffs.

Thank you for joining us for today's segment. Join us again tomorrow for more headlines, news, facts, and anniversaries; and on Wednesday, we will have our very first Special Report.

I'm Nicholas Gerda.

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