Wikinews:Briefs/June 4, 2012

June 4, 2012

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Today on Wikinews: We briefly recap some of the stories appearing on Wikinews this week and from around the world.

Today is Monday, June 4, 2012. I am Chad Tew and this is Wikinews.

Mubarak sentenced to life in prison over protester deaths (0:26)
Former president Hosni Mubarak was given a life sentence in prison for his leadership role and the court said he failed to stop the killing of protesters by Egyptian security during the Revolution in 2011. The court also sentenced his interior minister but acquitted six other security officials. Mubarak's sons were also acquitted of corruption charges. Egyptian protesters both celebrated and showed their anger at the mixed results. Appeals are expected. Still Mubarak is the first Arab leader in custody convicted as a result of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Charles Taylor gets 50 years for war crimes (1:13)
And former Liberian President Charles Taylor was handed a fifty-year sentence by an international tribunal for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone. Taylor is the first head of state to be convicted and sentenced by an international tribunal since World War Two. The last such conviction was during the Nuremberg trials. Taylor was convicted in late April.

Indonesians retrieve missing recorder from crashed Russian jet (1:39)
Indonesian villagers found the flight data recorder from a downed Sukhoi aircraft. The plane had crashed into a cliff near Jakarta early in May. All forty five people on board were killed during the demonstration flight for potential clients.

Buddy Roemer suspends U.S. presidential campaign (1:58)
In the United States, former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer suspended his twenty twelve presidential campaign Thursday morning. In an e-mail sent to supporters, Roemer said he lacked ballot access after Americans Elect decided to not field a presidential candidate this year. He started his campaign for a presidential nomination as a Republican before he changed strategy and simultaneously switched to the Reform Party while seeking support from Americans Elect. In the email, Roemer told supporters not to lose hope in reforming the U.S. political system from the power of special interest groups.

President Obama easily wins Texas primary; Romney secures Republican nomination (2:42)
President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney both won their parties' primaries in Texas. The result made official that Romney is now the Republican party's presumptive presidential nominee ahead of the convention. And President Obama's win marked an end to several challenges that he faced in Arkansas and West Virginia, but the Democrats still face legal and investigation challenges from those contests.

Short-haired bumblebees reintroduced to UK (3:18)
The short-haired bumblebee was reintroduced to the United Kingdom this week after being declared extinct in Britain in two thousand. The bees were captured from Sweden and after scientific approval were released into a nature reserve in England. The bees were last seen in the area in the nineteen eighties.

==== Australian Stingers stung by US at FINA World League Final gold medal match / Australian women to meet USA in water polo's FINA Women's World League Super Finals gold medal game / Australia women's water polo team into FINA Women's World League Super Finals quarter finals (3:40) ====

The United States women's water polo team beat the Australian team six to four in the FINA Women's World League Super Finals. The Australian team had beaten the Chinese eight to seven to get to the finals match. In their game with the US, the score was tied 4-4 at the end of the third quarter but the US women's water polo team pulled ahead by two points in the final quarter. The US team took the league's gold medal ahead of this summer's Olympics, and it was the seventh World League Super Final title for Team USA.

We have a series of three articles on how the Australian team made it to the finals of the FINA Women's World League Super Finals at Wikinews dot org.

US fans turn out for 2012 Phoenix Comicon (4:32)
Wikinews was at the twenty twelve Phoenix Comicon last week. Around thirty thousand fans showed up for the southwest convention that generated about five million dollars for Phoenix. The comicon conventions are opportunities for fans to meet with celebrities, shop for memorabilia, but the most fun was fans entertaining each other in costume and participation. We have more video and photographs at Wikinews dot org.

Outro (5:04)
And those are the headlines for this week.

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