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Gunmen shoot at Pakistani President Musharraf's plane A Paksitani intelligence officer indicated that during a flight Friday from Chaklala Airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan to Balochistan province, President Pervez Musharraf's plane was shot at, but arrived safely at its destination. Sochi, Russia to host 2014 Winter Olympics The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2014 Olympics to Sochi, Russia, a resort city near the Black Sea.

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Scientists uncover oldest known DNA on Earth Ice samples retrieved from 1.2 miles beneath the surface of Greenland have uncovered samples of DNA from insects, estimated to be 450,000-900,000 years old.

Wikipedia Current Events
New Seven Wonders of the World are announced including The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Mexico's Chichen Itza Mayan site, the Colosseum in Rome and the Taj Mahal in India. A bus crash in Java kills at least 14 people. 48 people were injured, many seriously. At least 105 people are killed when a suicide truck bomber attacks a market in Amirli in northern Iraq with a majority Shiite Turkoman population. The Government of Afghanistan states that it will investigate claims that United States and NATO air strikes caused heavy civilian casualties in Farah Province and Kunar Province. Live Earth gets underway with concerts in Australia, the United States, Germany, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan and China. King Gyanendra of Nepal celebrates his 60th birthday amid protests by students and youth wings of eight ruling parties.

Influential Croat poet Dragutin Tadijanović dies
Croatian poet Dragutin Tadijanović died last week in Zagreb, Croatia. He was 101 years old.

Born on November 4, 1905 in Rastušje, Slavonia, Croatia, he was erudite cordially referred to as 'Bard' in Croatia.

He published his first poem in 1922. He graduated in literature and philosophy at the University of Zagreb in 1937.

He worked as the lecturer of the official paper Narodne novine (1935-1940), taught at the Academy of Arts in Zagreb (1939-1945). Later he worked at the publishing house "Zora", "Hrvatski pjesnici", as well as Matica hrvatska, before becoming an editor at the [what?]. He joined the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts's Literary Institute, where he became the director in 1953 and served until his retirement in 1973. He was the president of the Society of Croatian Writers in 1964-1965, and he also became an academician of the Academy.

Apart from being among the longest living writers in Croatian history, Tadijanović held distinction as one of the most popular and most influential Croatian poets of 20th century. His poem Balada o zaklanim ovcama (Ballad of Slaughtered Sheep), written in 1930s, is one of the most powerful works of Croatian literature.

He was among the longest living writers in Croatian history, with generations studying his poems in school. His last couple of birthdays were marked with reports on national TV, awards and other special events and his commemoration ceremony was held at the Old City Hall on uphill Zagreb attended by the Mayor of Zagreb and other political and cultural officials.

Tour de France:7.9km down 3404.1 to go
At least half a million onlookers turned out to line the route as, the Tour de France Prologue closed the streets of Central London for a day. Setting off at one minute intervals the 180 plus riders took less than ten minutes to speed past some of London's most memorable landmarks. With the eventual winner World time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara completing the 7.9 kilometre individual time trial in 8 minutes 50 seconds.

The Tour had to compete with more familiar sporting events, the British Grand Prix, the closing stages of Wimbledon and with the Live Earth concerts for the heart's of the British public. However some say as many as a million turned out for the Gallic extravaganza; the party atmosphere aided by a turn in the weather, the sun coming out for the first time all summer.

Run on the second anniversary of the 2005 terrorist attacks and at a time of heightened security, policing was successfully discrete the most visible police presence, by way of their novelty being, 45 members of the Gendarme Nationale.

Coming to England for the first time since 1994 fans new and old had the course of the day and the three hours of the trials to familiarise themselves with the French institution. The initial good natured cheering on of every rider, growing into real excitement as the shape of the race emerged. At the end of the day the standings were:

Truck bomb in Iraq kills over 100
On Saturday, a suicide truck bomb in a Shiite village, Tuz Khurmato, north of Baghdad damaged homes, shops and a large outdoor market. The bomb blast, blamed on Sunni militants, killed at least 100 and wounded another 250 Iraqi civilians.

Hamas forces seized 80 bags with chemicals from the agriculture college in the Gaza Al-Azhar University
On Saturday, some 30 armed members of Hamas' security forces confiscated 80 bags full of chemicals from the agriculture college at the Al-Azhar University in Gaza. The dean, Jawad Wadi, called Hamas offices to file a complaint. "This is a very dangerous," Wadi said. "The university is a place for education and this is not the way to deal with the university."

Gunman shoots at gamblers at Las Vegas casino
A 51-year-old man fired 16 rounds from a semiautomatic handgun from a balcony overlooking the floor of the New York New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The shooting left 4 people with non-life threatening injuries. They were treated and released from a local hospital later that morning.

Steven Zegrean was tackled by two off-duty military reservists who held him down until Las Vegas police reached the scene. The incident occurred at 12:15 a.m. PST (UTC-7).

Mr. Zegrean was quickly arrested on felony charges including attempted murder, battery with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm in an occupied structure. It is believed that he was emotionally distraught.

West Indies cricket team in England 2007 - 3rd ODI
West Indies have beaten England by 93 runs in the third and final One-Day International of the West Indies tour of England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England. West Indies win the three match series 2-1.

England's bowlers fared poorly, despite removing Devon Smith early on, with the West Indies batsmen scoring 116 runs off the last ten overs. Runako Morton (82 not out), Chris Gayle (82) and Dwayne Bravo (42 off 24 balls) helped the West Indies to an imposing total of 289-5. The only wickets for England were taken by Liam Plunkett (3-59) and James Anderson (2-51).

In response, England's batting performance was no better than their fielding. Although Owais Shah scored 51, England lost too many batsmen cheaply including Kevin Pietersen for 0. They were reduced to 196 all out, far short of the 290 runs needed. Fidel Edwards took 3-30 and Daren Powell took 4-40 for the West Indies.

Previously on the tour, England won a four match Test series 3-0 and drew a two match Twenty20 series 1-1.

Lewis Hamilton on top for 2007 British Grand Prix
Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the pole position on his home soil at FIA Formula-1 2007 Santander British Grand Prix on the Silverstone Circuit at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England.

His teammate Fernando Alonso was in the lead for the first two qualifying sessions, but lost 0.150 seconds to Lewis and only 0.048 to Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen despite Kimi's error in Woodcote, end of sector three. Another Ferrari driver Felipe Massa placed fourth.

Robert Kubica and Ralf Schumacher won the third row for their teams, BMW Sauber and Toyota respectively. Both Renault drivers on the fourth row of the starting grid. Top ten was closed by another BMW and Toyota cars.

New avian flu outbreaks reported in western Europe
At least 38 new cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu have been found in wild birds in eastern Germany today. These discoveries, in conjunction with the fifth outbreak in France in seventeen months, have prompted both countries to raise the bird flu risk assessment level.

German scientists discovered the outbreak after receiving 38 confirmed cases, all of which came from the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Map showing the locations of Assenoncourt, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt

In France, three swans have been found dead in an Assenoncourt pond sparking a massive response from French authorities. Most bird related activities have been banned and a control zone half a mile (c. 800 metres) in radius has been placed around the pond. Careful monitoring will take place for any further deaths or signs of illness in this area.

Many commercial poultry owners have been told to keep their birds inside as a precaution to prevent the disease from spreading further through Europe.

French health minister Roselyn Bachelot has stated that the current state of alert is appropriate, given the potential risk to human life posed by influenza.

Authorities fear the virus may spread across Europe and cause a pandemic, as was seen in Asia and Europe last year.

Following the outbreak of 2006, 13 EU members (namely Austria, Britain, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden) had all confirmed cases of bird flu.

In April last year, France found that more than 60 wild birds at a farm with 11,000 turkeys were infected with H5N1. Globally, where it has spread to humans, the virus has killed almost two thirds of the three hundred reported cases, according to the WHO.

Toshiba Transatlantic Challenge – success
British Toshiba Transatlantic Challenge pilot, David Hempleman-Adams, successfully crossed the Atlantic and in doing so broke 5 world records. His helium gas balloon landed safely in the French countryside on Friday evening.

The explorer is known for the gruelling challenges he undertakes. Having created the "Adventurers' Grand Slam" in which he visited both geographical and magnetic poles and climbed the highest peaks in each of the seven continents, this is his latest undertaking.

Monday saw Hempleman-Adams leave Newfoundland in his balloon. The successful crossing netted him the record for distance travelled in that size of balloon, although he battled with sleep deprivation in the latter stages of the journey.

Today in History
1709 – Great Northern War: At Poltava, Ukraine, Peter I of Russia defeated Charles XII of Sweden in the Battle of Poltava, effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.

1776 – The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress.

1889 – The first issue of The Wall Street Journal, an influential international daily newspaper, was published.

1947 – Various news agencies reported the capture of a "flying saucer" by United States Air Force personnel from the Roswell Army Air Field in Roswell, New Mexico.

2004 – After a 19-month trial, U.S. Marine Corps Major Michael Brown was convicted by a court in Naha, Okinawa for an attempted indecent assault on a Filipina bartender.

July 08 is National Day of Commemoration in Ireland (2007).

Quote of the Day

Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it. ~ Jean de La Fontaine

Word of the Day

agnostic; n

A person who holds to a form of agnosticism, especially someone uncertain of the existence of a deity.

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