Top Stories
World Bank president addresses global youth forum on genocide The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, has today addressed a global youth forum on genocide in Kigali, Rwanda, as part of a visit to four Africa countries this week. Speaking on genocide, he said: "people say 'never again' too easily, It's happening today in Sudan. We all share responsibility to actually do things. "The conditions of preventing genocide lie partly in helping people to have a better life. It's easier to incite people that have nothing to lose." Wolfowitz apologized on behalf of the world for not intervening before the atrocities took place in 1994. Downing Street Memo forum to be held June 16th in response to petition of 500,000 The "Downing Street Memo" is the subject of a forum at the Washington Capital complex today headed by Congressman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee and televised on C-SPAN 3. Conyers said that "there was a secret decision well ahead of the authority Congress had given" and that as the Bush administration "was assuring Congress, they were secretly planning war." Police storm Cambodian school where children were taken hostage, Canadian boy killed On Thursday, gunmen stormed Siem Reap International School, a Cambodian elementary school in Siem Reap (near Angkor Wat), taking kindergardeners and teachers hostage. The gunmen also killed one Canadian boy of an unknown age. After the hostages were held for almost six hours, Cambodian police say they have captured four gunmen. Two gunmen, along with the Canadian child, have reportedly died. The students and teachers, previously held hostage, have now been freed.

Wikipedia Current Events
The planet Jupiter was able to be seen from some parts of the Southern Hemisphere, due to the Moon passing between that planet and the Earth. A report by the Metropolitan Police in the UK states that children are being trafficked into the UK from Africa to be used as human sacrifices. Conflict in Iraq: Five U.S. Marines die from a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Western Iraq. A Jewish cemetary in West Ham has been attacked. This being the 117th time a Jewish cemetery has been attacked in 15 years. In Cambodia, 6 unidentified gunmen take over a school in the village of Siem Reap near Angkor Wat and hold a number hostage for six hours. Reports of the number of hostages range from 24 to 70. Many of them were children from foreign families that work in the area. Gunmen demand money, weapons and a car. One of the hostages dies when police storm the school. In Japan, former tycoon Yoshiaki Tsutsumi confesses to a financial fraud and inside trading. Chilean authorities have found a weapons arsenal in Villa Baviera, former Colonia Dignidad, during the investigation of the colony's founder Paul Schaefer.

Satellite radio approved in Canada
Canada's communications regulator, the CRTC has approved three applications for subscription-based satellite radio services. The three applicants are Canadian Satellite Radio Inc, SIRIUS Canada Inc, and CHUM Limited.
Two of the applicants, Canadian Satellite Radio and SIRIUS Canada are both required to offer at least eight original channels (10% of all channels) produced in Canada. Also, 85% of the music and spoken programming broadcast on the "Canadian channels" have to be Canadian, and 25% of the Canadian channels must be broadcast in French.
The lobby group, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting publicly opposes this decision, saying that it creates a pipeline for U.S. radio programs into Canada.
Brazil Political crisis: Minister Jose Dirceu leaves the government
The Brazilian Minister of Civilian Household José Dirceu announced this evening his resignation of the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
During his discourse José Dirceu said that he will return to his earlier position as federal deputy of the Workers'Party. He said that he will defend the government against those "who want to interrupt the democratic process and want to destabilize the government of president Lula". He said that he is leaving with "clean hands", "heart without bitterness" and with "raised head".
Dirceu is the victim of the severe political crisis in Brazil because of denountiations of corruption in Lula's government. Dirceu was one of the most important ministers of the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The crisis got worst after the allegation of the ally Brazilian deputy Roberto Jefferson. This Tuesday, Jefferson said to a Congress commission that the minister José Dirceu and the President of the Workers' Party, José Genoíno, were envolved in the scandal of payment to Brazilian deputies.
American "Chicken for sex" meat salesman is charged with assault
Ryan Park, a 22 year old door-to-door meat salesman from Waterboro, Maine was arrested yesterday, and charged with assaulting a woman in Stoddard, New Hampshire last month. He is charged with forcefully kissing her after she turned down an offer from him of chicken for sex.

Stoddard Police Lieutenant Roger Turcotte stated that the woman, whom he did not name, told police that Park:
persuaded her to let him into her house;
brought in several boxes of meat and attempted to sell them to her;
said, when told that she did not have the money to spend, "Well that’s all right. I’ll take anything in trade: knives, drug paraphernalia, guns, anything else that you have to offer";
tried to sell her a box of chicken;
suggested oral sex;
put his hands on her hips and tried to kiss her;
asked to be shown the rest of the house, including the bedroom; and
said "Why don’t you get rid of the kids for a few minutes? This won’t take long. Nobody will know."
Turcotte said that in order to get rid of Park the woman gave him a post-dated cheque (which police later helped the woman to stop payment on) and $40, all of the cash that she had, and that when the woman's husband later returned home, Park tried to sell meat to him. Turcotte also said that Park, when questioned by police was "appropriate and polite", and stated to police that "I hit on a lot of women when I go door-to-door.".
Michael Phillips, owner of Pacific Prime Gourmet Foods, a company for which Park is a contractor and that supplies meat and other products and leases vehicles to door-to-door salesmen, stated that he has never had any complaints about Park, adding that if Park is convicted, the company "would have no choice" but to sever its business relationship with him, but that right now "He hasn’t been found guilty of anything. We will support him until we hear otherwise."
Linda Park, Mr. Park's mother, said in regards to the incident, "That’s not something that I would think that he would do.” She also stated that her son would not have to force himself on someone because "he’s very popular with the women."
Park is scheduled to appear in Keene District Court on June 28, 2005.
Canadian boy killed in Cambodian seige; Police storm school
Gunmen stormed a Cambodian school today taking kindergardeners and teachers hostage.
The men entered Siem Reap International School, a Cambodian elementary school in Siem Reap (near Angkor Wat), earlier today.

The gunmen killed one Canadian boy of an unknown age, apparently after he would not stop crying. Police began negotiating with the hostage takers after the killing.

Cambodian police raided the school after the hostages had been held for six hours. Two gunmen, along with the Canadian child, have reportedly died, while the police have detained four more suspects. The surviving hostages have now been freed.
"All of a sudden the gates opened and people came running out with children in their arms," said John McDermott, a correspondent for CNN.

Most of the children that were held hostage are the sons and daughters of hotel workers. According to a resident, the hostages were Singaporean, Korean, Japanese, Australian, Taiwanese, Irish, British, Swiss, Indonesian, Canadian, Indian, American, Italian, and Filipino.

She added, "The gunmen let one class go, but they [were] holding the kindergarten class."

The Siem Reap International School has served as a support system for the rapidly increasing number of expatriate workers attracted by Cambodia's tourist industry upsurge, one of the very few boosters of the severely impoverished nation's economy.
World Bank president addresses global youth forum on genocide
The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, has today addressed a global youth forum on genocide in Kigali, Rwanda, as part of a visit to four Africa countries this week.

Speaking on genocide, he said: "people say 'never again' too easily, It's happening today in Sudan. We all share responsibility to actually do things. "The conditions of preventing genocide lie partly in helping people to have a better life. It's easier to incite people that have nothing to lose."

Asked why the international community ignored past genocide, Wolfowitz said: "There are many explanations but no excuses. We have to work with countries that are working to prevent conflict."

He said he would work together with African countries to cut poverty, citing Tony Blair's phrase of a 'deal for a deal': "So many governments here are stepping up to take responsibility.". He added that World Bank asistance to service debt repayments could now go towards meeting needs, following the cancellations of the debts of the 18 poorest countries agreed by G8 countries last week.

The forum organised by Never Again, which begun at the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology today, has participants from Rwanda, the Congo, Burundi, the UK, America and Canada.
This article contains first-hand journalism by a Wikinews Reporter.

Global youth conference on genocide begins in Kigali
Young people are gathering in Kigali for the first Global Youth Conference on Genocide Prevention.
Approximately 100 students from Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo will share ideas about the past and present in Rwanda as well as the future for the Great Lakes region.

The conference comes at a crucial time, with Rwanda facing the gacaca process, the regional implications of that process, and the spotlight on Africa to an unprecedented level.
This article contains first-hand journalism by a Wikinews Reporter.
Bomb blast in Iran injures three civilians
For a second time this week, the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan was rocked by a bombing. Like the previous bomb blast reported Tuesday, it was relatively small and produced only three injuries and no fatalities. This is in stark contrast to bombs detonated over the weekend in Ahwaz and Tehran, which produced a dozen fatalities and scores of injuries. The Ahwaz bomb went off in a fast-food restaurant at 7:50 PM local time.

A government spokesperson said both bombings were "...anti-[Islamic] revolution elements against innocent people."

Across the border, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari issued a denunciation of the bombings and called for closer anti-terrorism cooperation between the countries of the Middle East.

It is not clear who has truly been behind the string of Zahedan and Tehran bombings. Three little-known Arab separatist groups operating in the rebellious Khuzestan province have claimed credit for the bombings there, but no one has stepped forward to claim the others.

At first, after the earliest attacks, the government seemed to blame the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MeK) organization. It later expanded its accusations to allege U.S. facilitation and imply infiltration via U.S. occupied Iraq or Afghanistan, both of which share extensive borders with Iran. The MeK, which formerly operated under Saddam Hussein's protection in Iraq, has claimed bombings in the past, but vehemently denies an participation in the recent spate of attacks. The group seems to have moved away from violent acts in recent years as it tries to curry favor with Western governments and shed its terrorist image (the group is currently listed on U.S. and many European terrorist watch lists). The affiliated National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has also denied involvement.

On March 30, a previously unknown group called "The 70 Million People of Iran" issued a statement hinting at violent resistance to the current regime --- but only after a June 18 deadline, which has not yet passed.

Reformist candidate Mostafa Moin has raised the possibility that rouge hardline Islamist groups planted the bombs to frighten people into choosing a military-affiliated candidate. Moin, currently running number two in the polls behind former president and current Discernment Council chariman Akbar Hashemi Rasfanjani, also threatened to pull out of the race and ask his supporters to boycott elections to protest the treatment of his running mates and supporters, several of whom have been attacked by extremist mobs.
Downing Street Memo forum to be held June 16th in response to petition of 500,000
The "Downing Street memo" is the subject of a forum at the Washington Capitol complex today headed by Congressman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee and televised on C-SPAN 3. Conyers said that "there was a secret decision well ahead of the authority Congress had given" and that as the Bush administration "was assuring Congress, they were secretly planning war."

CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider said, "Representative Conyers is planning to present the White House with a petition signed by more than 500,000 Americans and 104 members of Congress asking President Bush to address the issues raised by the memo. This issue is heating up."

The Downing Street Memo is the leaked minutes of a July, 2002 meeting in British prime minister Tony Blair's office which occurred eight months before the war in Iraq; long before President Bush told Congress he had decided to go to war. The minutes say that "Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."

Congressman John Conyers said, "And it's in this crucible that we get the question of deception. Did he deceive us into a war? Were we tricked in a war?"

Gold Star Families for Peace is a group of families of Americans who were killed in Iraq. They also have been focusing on the British document and asking members of Congress to press for answers. The organization's leader, Cindy Sheehan, said the forum is "calling on Congress to do the right thing, to investigate the memo. I would hope that we would get an investigation going into the lies that lead our country into war and hold somebody accountable for those lies."

Schneider said the minutes imply that "The Bush administration had already decided to go to war before asking for a vote of Congress, before going to the United Nations. The question the memo raises is, did the United States and Britain go to the United Nations to avoid going to war or to justify going to war?"

At their June 7 press conference, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair were asked about the issues raised by the memo:

TONY BLAIR, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: But the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Somebody said, well, you know, we had made up our mind to go -- to use military force to deal with Saddam. There's nothing farther from the truth.

Today in History
1775 - American Revolutionary War: British forces took Bunker Hill outside of Boston.

1789 - French Revolution: The Third Estate of France declared itself the National Assembly.

1961 - Canada's New Democratic Party was founded with the merger of the CCF and organized labour.

1972 - Watergate scandal: Five men were arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel.

1994 - O. J. Simpson was chased down and arrested on suspicion of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
June 17 is Independence Day in Iceland (1944)
Quote of the Day

"I cannot think we are useless or Usen would not have created us. He created all tribes of men and certainly had a righteous purpose in creating each." ~ Geronimo

About Wikinews
We are a group of volunteer journalists whose mission is to create a diverse community where citizens from around the globe (including you) can collaborate to report the news on a wide variety of current events.If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org All stories on Wikinews are in the public domain. By making our content perpetually available for free redistribution and use, we hope to contribute to a global digital commons. Wikinews also aims to write stories from a neutral point of view.
Audio Wikinews
Audio Wikinews is a public domain, non point-of-view news radio program recorded daily at Wikinews Broadcast Studio in Santa Ana, California. News Briefs are short, on-the-hours breaking news updates; while Full Reports are a thorough review of the day's news. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Audio_Wikinews
About Wikinews Print Edition
For more information about Wikinews Print Edition visit: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Print_edition

Friday, June 17, 2005	Wikinews	Page 4

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit www.wikinews.org

Free	The free-content news source that you can write!	Friday, June 17, 2005

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org

Wikinews Back Page

2005-06-15T22:40:13