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London Underground train derails leaving passengers trapped A London Underground train has derailed on the Central Line shortly after 9am BST during the morning rush-hour leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. African Union Summit ends in Accra The 9th summit of the Assembly of the African Union ended in Accra, Ghana just before midnight yesterday.

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New 'clean water' funding for Djibouti's drought-stricken rural areas The announced €2 million in new funding from the European Union for the UNICEF water and sanitation program should provide some relief to an estimated 25,000 rural inhabitants.

Wikipedia Current Events
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions votes to strike for higher wages as inflation in Zimbabwe rises above 10,000%. Nine people are killed at Culiacán International Airport in the Mexican state of Sinaloa as a cargo aircraft fails to take off and careens across a roadway, hitting several vehicles and business premises. An armed man is holding at least one person hostage at a Montreal bank. Two die and seven are seriously injured when a small plane crashes after missing the runway at Aerfort na Minna, in County Galway, Ireland. 91 boats capsize during a junior regatta in Dún Laoghaire, on the Irish Sea, with 120 children swept out to sea. All have been rescued, according to the Irish Coast Guard, although 15 have been brought to hospital. Eleven people are injured when a staircase collapses at the Natural History Museum in Dublin. Russia has officially declined a request by the UK to extradite Andrei Lugovoi for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. Russia's constitution bars extradition of its citizens. A study at the University of Jordan concluded that the country's economic problems are not a result of the 750,000 Iraqi refugees who have sought sanctuary there. Iraqi refugees now comprise over 10% of the Jordanian population. On the 25th anniversary of their captivity, the Iranian government announces that Iranian diplomats Seyyed Mohsen Mousavi, Ahmad Motevasselian, Kazem Akhavan and Taghi Rastegar Moghaddam are still alive and being held in Israeli jails. The men were captured in 1982 in Lebanon. Eleven people are injured after a London Underground train derailed, leaving hundreds of passengers trapped in an east London tunnel. Armed residents of Nagaland in India burn down villages in the neighbouring state of Assam. Pakistani forces demolish the front walls of the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad. Twenty-five people died and 33 are injured in an explosion in a karaoke bar in Tianshifu in northeast China.

Nigerian gunmen kidnap three-year-old British girl
A three year old British girl, Margaret Hill, has been kidnapped by a group of gunmen in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt.

This event is the latest in a long line of kidnappings of expatriates with links to the Nigerian oil industry, following the abduction of five workers from a Nigerian oil rig. Reports state that Hill was taken from a car in which she was passenger. The British Foreign Office has confirmed the kidnap and has called for the child's immediate release, whilst providing support for the family. Details of the group which has performed the kidnap are not known, with the main militant group, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, denying involvement. In past cases of child kidnappings, which remain rare, with workers in the oil industry being more commonly targeted, the victims have been returned unharmed upon payment of a ransom.

The Niger Delta contains more than 90% of Nigeria's natural resources, yet many of the indigenous population remain in poverty. Militant groups claim to be aiming to improve conditions for the poor. The BBC reports that over 100 foreign nationals have been kidnapped so far this year. Since the start of 2006, over 200 such kidnappings have taken place, and 15 adults remain in the custody of armed groups in Nigeria.

The British Foreign Office advises against all travel to the Niger Delta.

25 killed and 33 injured as explosion rips through Chinese karaoke bar
25 people were killed today and 33 were injured when a large explosion ripped through a karaoke bar in Tianshifu, Liaoning Province, China. The state-run Xinhua news agency says the cause of the disaster is under investigation. Four people are reported to be in a serious condition.

Originaly, Xinhua reported only five fatalities, but as rescue workers continued to move away debris, the full extent of the death toll was discovered. Xinhua has also reported that several employees at the bar, as well as the wife of the owner, were being questioned. According to a philly.com article authored by The Associated Press, Xinhua failed to state whether this was as witnesses or as suspects in any potential criminal activity, but the Shanghai Daily said that Xinhua had reported the people had been detained as suspects. The owner himself, Mr. Qu, was killed in the blast.

Investigators say they are currently unsure if the blast was purely accidental, or if foul play was involved, as all efforts were initialy focused on attempting to locate survivors. The two-storey building, which also housed a bathouse, was completely leveled by the blast. In adition, several cars were buried under the debris and windows in nearby buildings were shattered by the pressure wave. A power cut in the area was also caused by the blast due to damage to the local electricity network.

77-year-old local resident Chen Xiaohong, who lives fifty metres from ground zero, described the explosion: I was watching my grandson finishing his lessons. Suddenly, we heard a big bang, then the door burst open from effects of a powerful shock wave and the lights went out... We were lucky not to have been hurt,". Meng Xianling, who runs a seafood stall located down a narrow lane oposite the site of the accident building, commented that "I was afraid the parlor's boiler would explode. Mercifully, it didn't,".

China has been the location of many disasters in both public and private places, such as fires and explosions. Earlier this year, an unsafe arrangement with a two-ton steel ladle resulted in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster, in which molten steel was accidentaly poured into a room full of workers, killing 32. The majority of China's accidents stem from a combination of lax safety regulations and negligence, and accidents continue regularly despite promises by the government to prevent them.

Third US soldier charged in investigation into murder of Iraqi civilians
A third United States soldier has been charged in an on-going investigation into allegations that several members of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment had premeditated the murder of Iraqi civilians, and then planted AK-47s around the corpses to give the false impression that the victims had been insurgents.

Sergeant Evan Vela, of Phoenix, Idaho, was charged with pre-meditated murder, obstruction of justice and falsely placing weapons around the victim's body to give the impression they had been shot in self-defence. Last week Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley was charged on similar counts in the deaths of three civilians, and Spc. Jorge Sandoval was charged in the death of a single civilian. All three belonged to the same unit.

The incidents occurred over the past two months in Iskandariyah, 50 kilometres south of Baghdad. The investigation began when fellow soldiers in the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment reported the alleged events to their superiors.

The Asheville Citizen-Times is reporting that Vela sent an e-mail to his parents, in which he claims to be innocent and defends his kills in Iraq as "legitimate".

London Underground train derails leaving passengers trapped
A westbound London Underground train has derailed between Mile End and Bethnal Green on the Central Line shortly after 9am BST during the morning rush-hour leaving hundreds of passengers stranded who had to walk along the tracks to leave at the nearest station.

Transport for London have said that 20 people received medical attention with five taken to hospital with minor injuries including breathing difficulties. A lot of dust is said to have been disturbed during the incident.

A London Underground spokesman said that "We are investigating a report that at around 9am this morning a Central Line train derailed in a tunnel between Mile End and Bethnal Green. LU is looking into reports that there was an obstruction on the track."

Passengers initially feared that a bomb had exploded but a TfL employee on the train was able to calm the situation by suggesting that he thought it was a derailment. This was later confirmed by the train driver.

Chris Christofi who was on the train described what had happened to the BBC: "We felt a massive jolt underneath the train which caused the train to move up and down and sideways. There were some windows that seemed to blow in and explode and there was some soot that came into the carriage. There was a lot of people crying and upset, a lot of people falling over. We thought there'd been a bomb."

In a statement, British Transport Police Chief Superintendent Ellie Bird said that "there is nothing to suggest that this a terrorist-related incident".

Central Line services remain suspended between Leytonstone and Liverpool Street causing severe delays on the rest of the line.

Dozen 7-Elevens transformed into Kwik-E-Marts to promote Simpsons movie
To promote The Simpsons Movie that will be released next July 26 and 27, a dozen 7-Elevens in the United States have been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts, the grocery store from the popular TV series. Most of the other 7-Eleven stores will also sell products with brands reminding of The Simpsons, such as Buzz Cola, Krustyo's cereal, squishees, and Bart Simpson's favourite's comic book Radioactive Man -but not Duff Beer, Homer's favourite drink.

Inside the outlets are employees dressed like Simpsons characters such as Marge, Homer and Bart Simpson.

In the 20th Century Fox series, the Springfield Kwik-E-Mart is run by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, a stereotypical Indian shopkeeper who always greets his customers with "Thank you, come again", lives for his store but also changes the expiration dates on Kwik-E-Mart products.

The stores that received the make-over are located in:

Burbank, CA

Chicago, IL

Dallas, TX

Denver, CO

Lake Buena Vista, FL/Orlando, FL

Las Vegas, NV/Henderson, NV

Los Angeles, CA

New York City, NY

San Francisco, CA/Mountain View, CA

Seattle, WA

Vancouver, BC/Coquitlam, BC

Washington, DC/Bladensburg, MD

Son of former US VP Al Gore arrested for drug possession
On Wednesday morning at 2:15 a.m., PDT (UTC-7) the son of former Vice President Al Gore, Albert Gore III, was pulled over by Orange County Sheriff's Department in California for driving 100 mph (approximately 160 km/h) on the San Diego Freeway.

The deputy smelled marijuana in his car which, when searched, contained a small amount of marijuana along with the prescription drugs Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, and Adderall. Albert Gore III was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. He did not have prescriptions for any of the drugs found with him at the time of the arrest.

Gore was booked in Santa Ana. He was released on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. PDT on a US$20,000 bond. Gore was previously arrested in 2003 for marijuana possession and in 2002 for suspected drunken-driving.

Several police officers killed in suicide bombing in Afghanistan
At least 5 to 10 police officers in Afghanistan have been killed and at least 11 others were wounded after a suicide bombing in the southern part of the country in the town of Spin Boldak at a checkpoint.

Police officers were having lunch inside a room at the checkpoint when the bomber, who was also dressed in a police officer's uniform, walked in and detonated his explosives. At least two rooms were destroyed, according to police.

"We were eating lunch around 1330, when a suicide attacker wearing police uniform entered the post and blew himself up," said Bismillah Khan, commander of the local police in Spin Boldak who could only confirm that "five border police are killed and 11 are injured."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Five kidnapped from Nigerian oil rig

Five men have been kidnapped in a raid on a Royal Dutch Shell oil rig in Nigeria. In the early morning raid, several armed men in boats opened fire on the rigs security guards.

A Nigerian security expert says he doubts the two New Zealanders kidnapped from the oil rig will be killed. Bola Alkin says it would be unusual for the kidnappers to kill their prisoners after such an attack. He says normally all the kidnappers are doing is trying to send a message to the Nigerian government.

A Shell spokesperson says the company does not pay ransom for the release of kidnapped workers, but is obviously concerned for them.

The captured are Bruce Klenner and Gottard Brene from New Zealand, Jason Lane from Australia, George Saliba from Lebanon and Andreas Gambra from Venezuela.

Today in History
1415 – Jan Hus, founder of the Christian reform movement Hussite, was burned at the stake for committing heresy.

1887 – King Kalākaua of Hawai'i was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution, stripping the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority as well as disfranchising all Asians, most native Hawaiians, and the poor.

1885 – French chemist Louis Pasteur successfully tested his vaccine against rabies on nine-year-old Joseph Meister after he was bitten by an infected dog.

1942 – Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1966 – Hastings Banda became the first president of Malawi, exactly two years after the country declared its independence from the United Kingdom.

July 06 is Independence Day in Malawi (1964) and in Comoros (1975), and Statehood Day in Lithuania (1253); Jan Hus Day in the Czech Republic; the festival of San Fermín begins in Pamplona, Spain; 100th Anniversary of the birth of painter Frida Kahlo (b. 1907).

Quote of the Day

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

~ Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Word of the Day

obfuscate; v

To make dark; to overshadow.

To deliberately make (something) more confusing in order to conceal the truth.

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