Wikinews:Briefs/March 24, 2012

March 24, 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 Saturday, March 24, 2012. I am Chad Tew and this is Wikinews.

Magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes Mexico; no fatalities reported / Mexico gunmen kill twelve police (0:30)
A magnitude seven-point-four earthquake struck Mexico this week. The epicenter was in the state of Guerrero. But the quake also caused injuries to the north in Mexico City. Police have reported eleven injuries in Mexico. Also in Guerrero -- twelve police were ambushed and killed while searching for the bodies matching ten severed heads &mdash; apparent victims of the Mexican drug war.

Imminent danger of famine in the Sahel (1:00)
The United Nations is appealing to the international community for more aid for the Sa-hel region in Africa. The U-N estimates that sixteen million people may soon suffer from a food shortage there. The organization has only received about a quarter of the one billion dollars required for the food crisis. And UNI-CEF is preparing to provide one-point-five-million children with food. The U-N is trying to act quickly, so that the situation doesn’t get out of control.

Funeral for Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria held in Cairo (1:34)
The leader of Egypt’s Coptic Christian church has died. Services were held on Tuesday -- with Pope Shenouda the Third of Alexandria in full regalia, including a gold crown. The eighty-eight-year-old Pope spent forty years leading Egypt's ten million Copts. In nineteen eighty one, Shenouda was exiled to his cathedral by then-President Anwar Sadat for sectarian troublemaking. President Hosni Mubarak freed him four years later.

King George Tupou V of Tonga dies in Hong Kong hospital (2:10)
King George Tupou (Pronounced Too-pow) the Fifth of Tonga has also died. The King introduced democracy to Tonga. The sixty-three-year-old came to power in two thousand and six, and, two years later, he ended feudal rule after one hundred and sixty five years. Tupou’s younger brother is next in line to the throne.

North Korea plans to launch long-range rocket (2:35)
North Korea plans to launch a long-range rocket around mid-April to celebrate founder Kim Il Sung’s one hundredth birthday. North Korea and the United States had reached an agreement just sixteen days before the announcement; North Korea had agreed to stop its nuclear program while the United States had promised a quarter of a million metric tons of food. If the launch takes place, U-S officials said the food deal may be compromised.

US Air Force upgrades F-22 oxygen system after deadly crash (3:09)
The U-S Air Force is upgrading their Eff-Twenty-Two Raptor jet fighter planes after an accident that killed a pilot. Captain Jeffrey Hanley crashed in Alaska in late twenty ten. His wife is pursuing legal action against the plane's manufacturer Lockhead Martin. The plane has had problems with a ring handle that activates emergency oxygen on the aircraft. The Air Force is replacing all of those handles with new ones.

Large Texas hospital dismisses 75 employees (3:39)
Parkland Hospital, in Dallas, Texas, has dismissed seventy five employees over the past three months. These dismissals came after the hospital failed both state and federal inspections. The hospital hired a new chief nursing officer to help re-organize the nursing system. The hospital has until April of Twenty Thirteen to reach compliance with regulations.

FA Cup game abandoned after Fabrice Muamba collapses on pitch (4:05)
Last Saturday, Fabrice Muamba, the Football Association's Bolton player, collapsed during a game with the Tottenham Hotspurs. After ten minutes, Muamba was taken down the tunnel, and E-S-P-N reported he was not breathing at that time. Tributes soon flooded in. Muamba joined the Bolton Wanderers in two thousand and eight.

Wendy's surpasses the King (4:31)
And in the United States, Wendy’s surpassed Burger King to become the number two hamburger-chain. McDonald's held on to number one in sales with thirty four billion dollars in twenty eleven. Wendy’s followed with eight point five billion dollars and Burger King came close -- one hundred million short of Wendy's.

Outro (4:56)
And those are the headlines for this week.

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