Wikinews:Briefs/November 10, 2008

Introduction
You're listening to Audio Wikinews. [Intro music] Good evening. Welcome to News in Brief. I'm Nicholas Turnbull, with today's top stories [Chime] on Monday the 10th of November 2008 at 23:45 hours UTC. And now for today's main headlines. [Chime]

Headlines
A strong 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes China; three Indonesian terrorists are executed by firing squad for the 2002 Bali bombing; events take place across the United Kingdom to mark Remembrance Sunday; and, in cricket, India wins Gavaskar Border trophy defeating Australia 2 to nil.

And now for the indepth news reports. [Chime]

Strong 6.5 earthquake strikes China
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 has struck China. The quake was reportedly centered 55 kilometers east south-east of Da Qaidam in Qinghai province at a depth of 10 kilometres). It struck at approximately 9:22 a.m local time on Monday morning. Although there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the USGS says damage in the area could be "very heavy". The shaking was felt as far away as Golmud, and Xining, where witnesses say buildings shook, but there was no damage. This is adjacent to Tibet Autonomous Region and just at the foothills of Tibetan Plateau. The Da Qaidam region is an area of China where there are several launch sites for DF-4 nuclear missiles. At least two nuclear missiles are reported to be stored in the Da Qaidam Basin and were deployed there in 1998. Da Qaidam is one of five locations throughout China where launch sites exist. There have been no reports confirming any damage to these sites from the earthquake.

Three Indonesian terrorists executed by firing squad for 2002 Bali bombing
The three Islamic militants found guilty of the 2002 Bali bombing have been executed on the island of Nusakambangan. Huda bin Abdul Haq, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra were executed by firing squad shortly after midnight. It had been announced that the three would be killed in November but no date was given prior to the shooting. All three were convicted for the October 12, 2002 Bali bombings which killed two hundred civilians in the tourist district of Kuta. The blast killed tourists from 21 different countries and 38 Indonesian citizens. The bombings were blamed on the militant group Jemaah Islamiah. According to a BBC correspondent, the deaths will not evoke much sympathy in Indonesia and many people believe the executions should have been carried out much sooner. The bombers made several appeals, the latest being made a week before the execution; all were rejected by the Supreme Court.

Events take place across UK to mark Remembrance Sunday
Many events have taken place across the United Kingdom today and earlier this week, including many affiliated with the Poppy Appeal, to remember British military personnel killed in wars around the world in Remembrance Sunday. Queen Elizabeth II led the main event to mark the occasion at the Cenotaph in London, with events also taking place in North Staffordshire, Coventry, Wales, Lytham, St Anne's, Northern Ireland and Birmingham, in addition to small local events across the country. North Staffordshire marked the event when television presenter Nick Hancock released 15,500 poppy petals, representing the 15,500 British soldiers to be killed while in conflict since World War II. This weekend's football match between Coventry FC and Crystal Palace featured the players from both sides holding a minutes silence around a giant poppy. The Royal British Legion sent its "Poppy Man" sculpture around Wales and Northern Island to draw attention to its appeal, while in Lytham and St Anne's, the wife and daughter of the deceased comedian Les Dawson launched the appeal for funds. In Birmingham, a team from the Royal Marines Commando, abseiled down a hotel to mark the appeal. Services were also held in Iraq and Afghanistan by British troops, in addition to church services across the country.

Luis Fortuño is elected new governor of Puerto Rico
The candidate of the New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuño, was elected the new governor of Puerto Rico in the general elections held on November the 4th 2008. Fortuño obtained more than 52% of the votes. The other candidates were the current governor of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party, Edwin Irizarry Mora of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, and Rogelio Figueroa of the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party. In addition to obtaining the governor position, the New Progressive Party retained the position of resident commissioner of Puerto Rico and won a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Puerto Rican Independence Party lost its franchise as a political party because it received less than 3% of the votes, the level required by electoral law. The results also indicate that the Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party may have also lost its franchise.

Bomb ruled out in Mexico plane crash that killed twelve
A bomb has been ruled out in the crash of a government-owned Learjet L45 in Mexico City, Mexico on Friday, killing all nine on board and five on the ground. There had been rumours that the crash was deliberate as two prominent politicians, interior minister Juan Camilo Mourino and leading anti-drug advisor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, were aboard the aircraft. Investigators have also confirmed both engines were still functioning upon impact and that there was no fire, structural failure or evidence of malfunction prior to impact, suggesting a loss of control may be to blame.

Hurricane Paloma hits Cuba
Hurricane Paloma, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center has labeled as "extremely dangerous", has recently hit Cuba. In preparation for this, at 1500 UTC on Sunday, the Cuban provinces of Granma and Holguin were issued with a hurricane warning by the Cuban government. Due to updated forecasts, it has also removed the warning for the province of Sancti Spiritus.

And now for the sports news.

India wins Gavaskar Border trophy defeating Australia 2-0
India defeated Australia in the fourth and final test match of cricket at Nagpur to win the Gavaskar Border trophy by 2 to nil. India had won the second Test in Mohali by 320 runs taking a 1 to nil lead. The first Test and the third had ended in a draw. India regained the trophy after a gap of four years.

Closing
And that's the news today on Wikinews. This newscast is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organisation funded by you. en.wikinews.org. From Brighton, United Kingdom, it's goodbye from me, Nicholas Turnbull; and from the world, it's goodbye from the Wikinews newsroom.