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White House discussing troop withdrawals of up to 50% in Iraq The White House and Pentagon officials have been discussing "concepts" to reduce the level of troops in Iraq by up to 50%, leaving a force of about 100,000 in Iraq by Mid 2008. Roadside bomb kills Canadian soldier, injures two others The 55th Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan, when a large roadside bomb exploded. The blast killed Matthew J. McCully, 25, from Orangeville, Ontario on Friday at around 8:00 a.m. local time.

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Exclusive video interview with New Zealand Opposition leader, John Key John Key, New Zealand's Leader of the Opposition, and leader of the National Party, shared with Wikinews the details of his video blogging activities and future plans to make use of so-called 'new media'.

Wikipedia Current Events
Al-Azhar University suspends the lecturer who issued Breastfeeding fatwa. Voters in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island go to the polls for provincial elections. Two 17-year-old boys are charged with first degree murder in last week's school shooting in Toronto. The Foreign Office of the British Government submits a formal request to the Russian Government for the extradition of ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi to face charges over the murder of his former colleague Alexander Litvinenko in London. Aid workers claim that at least 17 people have been killed and others abducted by Hutu rebels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At least 19 people die after a car bomb detonates in Baghdad. Officials from Iran and the United States hold their first talks since 1980 with the topic being the future of Iraq. Japanese Minister of Agriculture Toshikatsu Matsuoka committs suicide, apparently over a financial scandal. Government-owned Venezuelan TV Station TVes begins broadcasting in place of Radio Caracas Television at 0420 UTC (12:20 am AST).

Two teenagers charged over shooting of student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, Toronto
Two 17-year-old men have been arrested and charged with first degree murder over the shooting last week of Jordan Manners, a 15-year-old student at the C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute. He was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest.

They cannot be named due to limitations in the Youth Criminal Justice Act. One was arrested in a raid early on Sunday morning, the other handed himself in later the same day. Three others, two men and a woman, were also arrested in raids but released without charge.

Toronto police Staff Insp. Brian Raybould stated at a press conference Monday that the two accused knew Manners and "probably were friends" with him. He also stated that a motive is yet to be established, but the attack was not gang-related. He also said that although there had clearly been only one shooter, both men had been charged with first degree murder. Crown prosecutors announced that they will seek full length sentences for the two, as opposed to restricted sentences reserved for minors.

Lawyers for the two accused have said that they have not been told exactly what the allegations against their clients are beyond the simple fact that they were involved in the shooting. The lawyers also said that the families were "shocked and upset" by the arrests.

Police have said that the two arrests came as a result of people within the school community coming forward with information regarding the shootings. They also urged more people to come forward to help clarify what they described as a "complex" case.

Halle Berry denies pregnancy rumours
Hollywood actress Halle Berry has denied rumours that she is pregnant following reports that she had a visible bump. In an interview with a British magazine, she described the rumours as “annoying” and “frustrating”. She went on to reveal that she would never marry again, despite being happy about her relationship with her current boyfriend.

In an exclusive interview with Ikonz magazine, she completely denied suggestions that she may be with child, saying “That got a little insane because being pregnant is a serious event in someone‘s life especially when you get to my age. It’s nothing to start joking about. So that got a little frustrating.”

The star, who won an Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Monster’s Ball in 2002, went on to blame the rumours on a bloated stomach.

“Every time I left a restaurant and had a good meal and had a little pooch I was ‘pregnant’ and that was a little annoying.”

However, she didn’t rule out having a baby. Speaking about getting pregnant, she said, “But when and if I ever get pregnant, trust me, I have no reason to hide it. I‘d be the first to talk about it.”

Asked about whether she would ever marry again following her second divorce from Eric Benet In 2005, she responded in the negative, answering simply with a flat ‘no’. When probed further for any uncertainty, she replied, “I know I won’t.” She said her boyfriend, French-Canadian supermodel Gabriel Aubry, had no problem with her view on marriage.

“…when you’re getting to know people these things come up right away, especially when you’re over thirty. When both people are that age you think of family and you think of those things. We’re on the exact same page and so that’s good,” she told journalist Elian Elias.

In 1989, Berry, now 40, discovered she had diabetes. Touching on the medical condition, she explained, “I’ve been what I call one of the lucky ones. I’ve taken it really seriously from when I first got diagnosed and I eat healthy and exercise and I manage to control it, and that’s mainly because I’ve taken it very seriously. I think that a lot of people have issues with it when they don’t really understand the disease and they don’t take it seriously.”

“They might not realise that it’s an everyday breakfast, lunch and dinner deal that you have to think about. Everything that I put in my body I really think about and plan,” added.

Halle Berry’s stars in James Foley’s ‘Perfect Stranger’, also starring Bruce Willis.

Four killed, dozens injured in southern Thailand bombings
Four people were killed and about two dozen injured in a bombing at a crowded market in Saba Yoi, Songkhla Province, Thailand.

The day before, a series of bombings in Songkhla's main city Hat Yai injured 13 people. Police are investigating those attacks, which occurred at around 9 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Sunday, when seven coordinated explosions went off at stores, hotels and restaurants in a city that is popular with tourists.

In Monday's bombing, the dead were two women and two girls, ages 4 and 8. The bomb, which exploded shortly after 4 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), was hidden in a motorcycle parked in front of the market next to a railway station.

Authorities have not concluded if the blasts are linked to the ongoing insurgency by Muslim separatists in southern Thailand. The past year has seen an escalation of violence, with almost daily fatal shootings of civilians and frequent ambush attacks on soldiers. Since early 2004, more than 2,200 people have been killed, mainly in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Thailand is predominantly a Buddhist country, but in those three provinces, the majority of residents are Islamic.

Council for National Security chairman General Sonthi Boonayaratkalin said he believed Sunday night's bombings were only meant to cause a disturbance. Other officials compared the Hat Yai blasts to the Bangkok New Year's Eve bombings, which they say were caused to create political tensions, though in those blasts, three people were killed.

Business analysts believe Sunday night's bombings will hurt Hat Yai's tourist trade, which has been struggling since a spate of bombings in 2005, including one that killed two people at Hat Yai International Airport, as well as blasts in a department store and hotel, with about 70 people wounded. In September 2006, four people were killed in a series of bombings in Hat Yai.

The latest bombings come at a tense time for Thailand. In the nation's capital, Bangkok, security forces are on alert ahead of a court ruling expected on Wednesday that could lead to the dissolution of the former ruling Thai Rak Thai party and the main opposition Democrat Party. Since a military-led coup d'état last year, in which prime minister and Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted, all political activity has been banned by the junta.

Last week, King Bhumibol Adulyadej made a rare televised address as he granted an audience to the administrative court judges. He urged them to use care in their verdict. "You have the responsibility to prevent the country from collapsing," he told them.

Authorities believe supporters of the political parties may cause trouble if they are displeased with the verdict.

Meanwhile, the nation's constitution is being rewritten, and Buddhists are demanding that Buddhism be made the national religion, a move that experts believe will lead to an even bigger increase in violence in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand.

Derby promoted after 1-0 win over WBA in Championship playoff final
Derby County F.C. have been promoted after a 61st minute goal by Stephen Pearson at the new Wembley stadium. The goal secured Derby's £60 million ($30 million) promotion into the English Premier League division over West Brom.

The goal was the first goal for Pearson playing for Derby County.

Japanese cabinet member commits suicide
NHK has reported the death of Toshikatsu Matsuoka (62), the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries of Japan and a member of Liberal Democratic Party. According to the police of Tokyo Metropolitan and members of Matsuoku including his secretary he was found hung in a room of the his apartment in Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo at 0:18 p.m local time, say the Japanese media including Mainichi Shimbun.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki confirmed his death but gave no further comment, Asahi Shimbun reports.

Matsuoka has been in disputes and criticized by the opposite parties since March due to unclear descriptions of annual financial reports of one of his support organizations, which all lawmakers and ministers are legally required to publish. Also in May it was exposed he accepted donation from an organization controlled by Japan Green Resources Agency, which itself is a non-profit organisation settled and which should report directly to the government. Inappropriate financial management of JGRA has been recently revealed and two of it's high positioned staff were arrested on May 24. Mainichi says after those arrests, some lawmakers in the ruling party LDP claimed Matsuoka should resign from the minister seat.

Today in History
1167 - A 1,600-man force of the Holy Roman Empire led by Christian of Buch and Rainald of Dassel defeated a 40,000-man Roman army.

1453 - Constantinople fell to an Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmed II, ending the Byzantine Empire.

1660 - English Restoration: The monarchy in England was restored under King Charles II on Oak Apple Day.

1914 - The ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sank in the Saint Lawrence River, killing 1,012 on board.

1919 - Observations made by Arthur Eddington during a solar eclipse confirmed part of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.

1953 - New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo took office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.

May 29 is Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna Day in Fiji.

Quote of the Day

The pessimist is commonly spoken of as the man in revolt. He is not. Firstly, because it requires some cheerfulness to continue in revolt, and secondly, because pessimism appeals to the weaker side of everybody, and the pessimist, therefore, drives as roaring a trade as the publican. The person who is really in revolt is the optimist, who generally lives and dies in a desperate and suicidal effort to persuade all the other people how good they are. It has been proved a hundred times over that if you really wish to enrage people and make them angry, even unto death, the right way to do it is to tell them that they are all the sons of God.

~ G. K. Chesterton

Word of the Day

dynamic; adj

Changeable; active; in motion.

Energetic, powerful.

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