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Former US First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94 Lady Bird Johnson, wife of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, has died of natural causes at the age of 94 at her home in Austin, Texas. Libyan court upholds death sentence for foreign medics in HIV case The Supreme Court in Libya has upheld the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical intern condemned for infecting 426 children with HIV.

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Study links breast cancer to high meat consumption Results published on Tuesday which are part of the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study add to the evidence about breast cancer and a diet high in meat and dairy.

Wikipedia Current Events
Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady and wife of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, dies at the age of 94 in Austin, Texas. The Pakistani Army says that the Operation Silence at Lal Masjid is in its final stages and that 95% of the complex is under its control. Four people who carried out failed suicide bombings in London are jailed for life, with no chance of release for at least 40 years. In passing the sentence, the judge ruled that the plot was "part of an al-Qaida inspired and controlled sequence of attacks", although the British government has always claimed the attacks were "home grown", and not connected to al-Qaida. Indonesia evacuates thousands of people living near Mount Gamkonora as it appears likely to explode. 14 Philippines Marines are killed by insurgents in fighting. The Supreme Court of Libya upholds the death penalty for the six Bulgarian medics and one Palestinian doctor accused of infecting children with HIV.

WMAQ's Amy Jacobson fired following controversial video
WMAQ-TV NBC 5 Chicago announced yesterday that reporter Amy Jacobson was leaving her job after being videotaped in a bikini with her two sons at the home of Craig Stebic. Jacobson has been covering the story of Stebic's wife Lisa, who has been missing since April 30.

Jacobson says that she he took her children on a social visit on her day off, following an invitation from Stebic's family.

WMAQ has concluded that Jacobson crossed a moral line that no reporter should cross. Jacobson has reported at WMAQ for the last 10 years.

The video of her at Craig Stebic's home was either taken by or given to CBS 2 WBBM-TV Chicago, the CBS affiliate. The entire 6 min RAW video of Jacobson is available at cbs2chicago.com.

The WMAQ President and General Manager Larry Wert stated "Amy has been one of our most valued reporters for over 10 years The decision to part ways has been a difficult one. We wish her the very best."

Speaking with WGN Radio on Wednesday morning, Jacobson described WBBM-TV's releasing of the video a "cheap shot".

She told Spike O'Dell that she is sickened by the entire ordeal and may pursue legal action against the people who took the video of her at Craig Stebic's house. Jacobson said her attorney said it illegal to videotape people on private property and she said she "is looking at all of her legal options."

A press release was sent to the WMAQ-TV Newsroom staff on July 10, 2007.

Agassi and Sharapova voted Wimbledon's sexiest champions on commercial website
Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova have been voted the sexiest Wimbledon champions from the last twenty years according to a survey conducted by the U.K. commercial website GetMeATicket.

Agassi and received 77% of the votes as the sexiest champion amongst names such as Boris Becker and John McEnroe. Maria Sharapova racked up 68% of the votes. Agassi won the single's title at Wimbledon in 1992, Sharapova lifted the women's trophy in 2004.

In the survey, 2,536 were cast between July 2 and 6.

Results

Full list of Wimbledon champions from the last 20 years and their percentage of votes for being the 'sexiest' in this survey:Women:

Maria Sharapova 68%

Chris Evert 21%

Steffi Graf 15%

Maria Bueno 11%

Serena Williams 11%

Martina Hingis 10%

Venus Williams 8%

Martina Navratilova 7%

Evonne Goolagong Cawley 7%

Karen Susman 6%

Angela Mortimer 6%

Margaret Smith 6%

Lindsay Davenport 5%

Billie Jean King 4%

Amelie Mauresmo 4%

Virginia Wade 3%

Conchita Martinez 3%

Jana Novotna 2%

Ann Jones 1%

Margaret Court 1%	Men

Andre Agassi 77%

Pat Cash 23%

Bjorn Borg 19%

Pete Sampras 14%

Roger Federer 14%

Boris Becker 8%

Goran Ivanisevic 8%

Jimmy Connors 7%

Stefan Edberg 7%

Arthur Ashe 6%

John McEnroe 6%

Rod Laver 6%

Lleyton Hewitt 5%

Roy Emerson 3%

John Newcombe 2%

Richard Krajicek 2%

Manuel Santana 2%

Michael Stich 2%

Stan Smith 1%

Jan Kodes 1%

Canadian merchant Ed Mirvish Dies at 92
Noted Toronto resident and Canadian merchant and theatre owner Ed Mirvish has died. On July 11, 2007, the Mirvish family released a statement confirming his passing earlier that morning at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. "Honest Ed", as he was known, was two weeks away from reaching his 93rd birthday.

"Mr. Mirvish did pass away this morning at around 1:30a.m. at St. Mike's Hospital," said his friend Russell Lazar.

The mayor of Toronto, David Miller, told CBC News that, "His store was about making sure that everyone could afford to live with some dignity and decency. His theatres were about bringing some joy and passion into people's lives."

Mirvish was known for his landmark discount store, Honest Ed's, and as a patron of the arts who helped revitalize the theatre scene in Toronto.

Chicago elevated line to be renovated
Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) riders on the subway portions of the Red and Blue lines may see relief of the slow zone in the coming months. So-called "slow zones" are locations were trains travel at restricted speeds because of track work or deteriorating conditions.

The is putting nearly US$15 millions towards renovation of the O'Hare to Clark/Lake portion of the BLue Line and Chicago to Belmont portions of the Red Line. Work will happen during off peak and overnight hours. The CTA says that one track operations and delays may occur.

"We have heard our customers' frustration with slow zones and today we are acting to address their concerns,” said Chicago Transit Board chairperson Carole Brown. "I am pleased that we are able to leverage existing contracts to begin this work and I look forward to working with state lawmakers to increase transit investment to bring our entire system to a state of good repair."

Brown Line Reconstruction Project

On February 20, 2006 the CTA formally broke ground on the Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project in order to repair its aging infrastructure and increase passenger capacity at Brown Line stations. The primary features of the project include:

* Reconstruction of stations and trackage and make each station ADA compliant

* Lengthening of platforms to accommodate eight-car trains

* Modernization of right-of-way between Kimball and Rockwell Avenue

* Upgrade of traction power equipment and train control systems

* Installation of a new fiber optic communication network.

The first two stations to be rebuilt—Kedzie and Rockwell—reopened on 16 August 2006. The project is scheduled for completion in 2009 and is expected to cost $530 million.

Libyan court upholds death sentence for foreign medics in HIV case
The Supreme Court in Libya has upheld the death sentence for five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medical intern condemned for infecting 426 children with HIV. Just one day ago, a deal to free the foreign medics was announced.

The six defendants were not present at the court ruling, while family members of the children rejoiced when the judge confirmed the verdict. "This is a victory for the Libyan judiciary system. We are awaiting the execution of the death sentence," said Al-Monseif Khalifa, a lawyer for the plaintives.

E.U. Commission President José Manuel Barroso remains hopeful that the medics will receive clemency. "We regret that these decisions have been made, but I also want to express my confidence that a solution will be found," Barroso told the European Parliament.

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov called for a quick solution. He said the verdict came as no surprise, and expressed his hope for a swift final solution. The case will now move to the Supreme Judiciary Council which will hear the case on Monday, according to Libya's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam. The Council is headed by the Justice Minister of Libya.

Late Tuesday, the Gaddafi Foundation, a non-profit run by the son of Libya's de facto leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, said a deal had been reached to free the health workers. The head of the Association for the Families of the HIV-Infected Children, Idriss Lagha, also said announced that a deal could be reached soon.

After the verdict today, Salah Abdessalem, a spokesman for the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations, reconfirmed to the Associated Press that a settlement to free the detainees still exists, which he said was acceptable to all parties and would end the crisis, without giving further details.

Unnamed officials who wished to remain anonymous disclosed the deal would involve financial compensation in exchange for the death sentences being commuted to a prison sentence, according to the Associated Press. E.U. officials say the European Union would agree to establish a fund of tens of millions of dollars to pay for the children's future medical care. Bulgaria and the European Union are calling it humanitarian aid instead of compensation, which would imply that their citizens would be guilty.

The convicted nurses and medical intern began working in the El-Fath Children's Hospital in Benghazi in 1998, and were arrested and jailed one year later when over 400 children were found to be infected with HIV -over 50 have died since. They were sentenced to death in 2004, and again after a retrial last December which came after an international outcry about the affair.

A scientific report by professors Luc Montagnier (one of the original discoverers of the virus causing AIDS) and Vittorio Colizzi used as evidence for the defence in the case said that the virus causing AIDS was widely spread in the hospital before the health workers even arrived, and that the infections were due to negligence and poor hygiene procedures in the Benghazi hospital. The prosecution introduced a report of Libyan scientists saying that this was not the case. The detainees have said that they have been tortured to make confessions.

Former US First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson dead at 94
Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson, wife of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson, has died at her home in Austin, Texas. She was 94.

She died of natural causes about 4:18 p.m. CDT. Her family and friends surrounded her when she passed.

Bess Truman was the only other first lady to live past age 90. Lady Bird Johnson became first lady after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. After her husband's presidency, she became known as an advocate of various environmental projects and environmentalism in general.

As President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, criss-crossed States by road during the 1964 presidential campaign, she informed her husband of her feelings about the roadside junkyards they saw along the way. Inspired by her comments and enthusiasm from audiences, he observed "If it's beautifying they want, it's beautifying they'll get." Recognizing that "ours is an automobile society," the President did not want to curtail roads. He wanted to make roads the "highways to the enjoyment of nature and beauty." Lady Bird thought that her love of seeing Texas highways in spring had influenced her husband. She enjoyed the results of Texan wildflower conservation programs which began in the 1930s.

One of the most prominent results of the President's beauty initiative was the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. It created restrictions on billboards and junkyards. As expected, it had been controversial. When the House considered its version of the bill on October 7, the debate lasted into the early morning hours of October 8. A pointed but tongue-in-cheek amendment by Representative Robert Dole (R-Kan.) to strike out the term "Secretary of Commerce" wherever it appeared in the bill and insert the words "Lady Bird" lost by a voice vote. Saying, "Beauty belongs to all the people," the President signed the bill and gave the first pen to Lady Bird, along with a kiss on the cheek.

In 1982, she founded the National Wildflower Research Center to continue the mission of changing public attitudes toward native plants. In 1997 it was renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Gambling review announced, throwing UK's 'supercasino' plans into doubt
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a review into the 'social effects' of gambling, throwing doubt over the Governments previous plans to grant a license for a 5,000 m² 'supercasino'.

The review, to take place in September, will look at "whether regeneration in the areas for the super-casinos maybe a better way of meeting their economic and social needs than the creation of super-casinos". Gordon Brown made the announcement during Prime Ministers questions, in response to a question from Labour MP Andy Reed.

The plan to allow the building of a single supercasino, and 16 smaller casino, was set in motion by previous Prime Minister Tony Blair. An independent Casino Advisory Panel had recommended in February 2007 that the supercasino license should be granted to the city of Manchester, a recommendation which the Government was expected to follow.

The new announcement by Gordon Brown throws doubt over these plans, and BBC News are quoting an unnamed 'Whitehall source' as having commented that the supercasino plan is "dead in the water".

Study links breast cancer to high meat consumption
Results published on Tuesday which are part of the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study add to the evidence about an epidemiological link between cancer and a diet high in meat and dairy.

The study compared post-menopausal women living in Shanghai who ate a "meat-sweet" diet high in meat, dairy, and sweets to those who ate a diet high in vegetables and soy. The women on the "meat-sweet" diet were 60 percent more likely to develop breast cancer, and 90 percent more likely to develop a particular type of breast cancer which is sensitive to hormones because it is estrogen-receptor positive.

The "meat-sweet" diet included beef, lamb, pork, shrimp, saltwater fish, poultry, organ meats, dairy, candy, desserts, and bread. The "vegetable-soy" diet included tofu, cauliflower, beans, bean sprouts, and green leafy vegetables, but not much meat.

Empty tower at Miami International Airport catches fire
A fire broke out earlier today at a vacant gate assignment tower at the Miami International Airport. The building is currently undergoing construction work. The fire is believed to have been sparked by the construction work. The building is part of an expansion at the airport. There are no reports of flight delays because of the fire.

Legia receives ban; Rovers face Vetra
Legia Warszawa has been kicked out of the 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup and have received a 1 year ban in a future season.

Fan violence

UEFA referee Mario Vlk of Slovakia abandon the match at half time after hundreds of fans of Legia went onto the field and tried to pull down the goalposts and destroy advertising hoardings along with clashing with police and fired many missiles onto the field. Lithuanian police used tear gas to stop the violence and made about 100 arrests.

Blackburn Rovers vs. FK Vetra

Due to the fact that Legia has been expelled, FK Vetra automatically will face Blackburn Rovers in the third and final round.

Default Victory

The match was awarded to FK Vetra 3-0.

UEFA Statement

UEFA made a statement in regards to Legia's most recent hooligan problem. "Although Legia said they had done much to curb hooliganism in the past three years, the body identified an "obvious problem with Legia supporters at away matches on the continent". In reaching its decision, it added: "Legia must react quickly and firmly if the club wishes to participate in UEFA competition in future. With Legia's considerable disciplinary record for away matches, the duty of playing matches against Legia becomes a tall order that UEFA cannot afford to support any longer."

Possible appeal

Legia have until Saturday if they wish to appeal against the ban.

PETA protests Burberry in White Plains, NY
Today, at 12:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-4) the Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged a "naked" protest in White Plains, New York. The target of the protest was British fashion house, Burberry, and their fur practices.

Two "naked" female PETA members, wearing nothing but bikini bottoms and body paint in bodypaint held billboards with the slogan, "When plaid goes bad." The body paint was done in the trademarked Burberry Check plaid design.

Two other PETA members were there handing out leaflets and showing a video presentation. The painted protesters were spattered with far less fake blood than other documented PETA protests in this campaign.

PETA is protesting Burberry for the company's use of fur in its products and how it is obtained. The group has staged similar protests around the world in its ongoing "BloodyBurberry"-campaign.

The protest took place at the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Bloomingdale Road in front of the The Westchester, an upscale shopping mall owned by Simon Property Group. Burberry has a retail store in the mall.

This corner is far from the mall's entrances and sees little pedestrian traffic. However, it does see heavy traffic by motorists, before whom the protestors were in plain sight. While Wikinews was on the scene, police and news media were the only other pedestrians.

The police presence was significant, numbering at least two vehicles and two mounted police officers. But since there was no crowd to control, they just hung back. Media was also there in numbers. At least two television crews could be observed.

As far as Wikinews can tell, Burberry has yet to make any public comment about any of the "BloodyBurberry" protests.

The 24th Shin Kong Life Tower Run Up will promote Bananas of Taiwan
The 24th Shin Kong Life Tower Run Up, the oldest building run up competition in Taiwan, organized by Shin Kong Life Insurance Co., Ltd., will be held on July 28, 2007 and promote "Bananas of Taiwan" as its main theme.

At noon of July 11, the main organizer held a pre-match conference and invited well-known Taiwanese delicatessen connoisseur Hong Chen to demonstrate two creative cooking by using bananas and other fruit.

Chen mentioned that lots common people in Taiwan lost the best origins due to pursuing new or fashion things, as they don't know the values of nutritions of bananas in Taiwan. As a living people in Taiwan, we can apply bananas from the other way like cosmetic or a perfume.

"Earlier, Shin Kong Financial Holdings Co., Ltd. also held a series of environment movie seminar to encourage people the importance of saving energy and using it appropriately. As now, international oil price raised, 'greenhouse effect' continued, everyone should concern about our environment for a better next generation." Shin Kong Financial president Frank Cheng said, after this press conference.

Evolutionary biology labs at University of Colorado threatened
On Friday, anonymous threats were sent to the evolutionary biology labs at the University of Colorado at Boulder by email and workers returned to their labs Monday morning to find threatening messages slipped under their doors. The threats mention a group affiliated with creationism, but police did not release the name of the group as it is still investigating if the threats were sent by them.

Currently, the University of Colorado police are not providing further details as they investigate the threats. Police have in the meantime increased patrols around the campus and threatened buildings.

Although the United States has had vigorous debate over the Creation-evolution controversy to date there have been no serious violent incidents, aside from an attack on Paul Mirecki, a professor at the University of Kansas, in 2005.

Swiss President visits Ghana
The President of the Swiss Confederation, Mrs. Micheline Calmy-Rey has begun a 2-day visit to Ghana.

The trip is part of an African tour which which includes Senegal, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi. She has already been in Benin.

She held talks with John Kufuor her host. Mrs. Calmy-Rey praised Ghana's successful democracy and said Ghana has a special role to play in Africa and is partners with Switzerland in that role. She is also keen to see more Swiss investment in Ghana. They also discussed issues such as trade, taxation relief to help boost Swiss investments in Ghana and Swiss support for Ghana's cocoa and pineapple industry. Also discussed was possible increased budgetary support as well as assistance to the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra.

Italian President ends visit to Ghana
Mr. Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Italy has completed a three day visit to Ghana.

During his visit, he met President John Kufuor at the Osu Castle. They highlighted the bonds between Ghana and Italy and past cooperation such as the building of the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam and AGIP's involvement in Ghana's petroleum business.

Napolitano also visited the Parliament of Ghana, where he paid a courtesy call on the Speaker, Ebenezer Sekyi-Hughes. Napolitano said the European Union had a role to play in the integration of Africa. Sekyi-Hughes was pleased that the Italian president had shown confidence in Ghana's parliament and its young democracy.

Later, he visited the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum in Accra and inspected work on the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium where Italian workers are engaged in construction work to prepare the stadium for the 2008 African Cup of Nations tournament.

The next day, he visited the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre near Accra. Ghana and Italy affirmed their commitment to the training of civilian personnel attached to various peacekeeping missions. While there, he said "Italy appreciates the level of troop contribution to and for works done by Ghana's contingents to peacekeeping operations worldwide". He continued, "We are pleased with your sense of mission and the high level of professionalism being exhibited by your troops on peace missions, and we would continue to support you in your role".

He was the guest of honour at a state banquet held before his departure.

Police investigate Youtube video of two year old 'on ecstacy'
The FBI and Jackson County police have tracked down the people who videotaped a two year old girl, unsecured and unresponsive in the back seat floorboard of a moving van. In the video, it is suggested that the child had been given the drug ecstasy.

In the video which was taken off YouTube, the toddler was not in a child seat, appeared unresponsive and was rolling her eyes so only her whites showed. There were comments made in the video that the little girl may have been given ecstasy - one teen in the van said "Cookie, stop rolling, girl" and "you shouldn't have popped no x". 'X' is a slang term for ecstasy.

Police tracked down the people involved via the MySpace and YouTube accounts used to post the video. The local police say it will be hard to prove if she was really given ecstasy since the drug is metabolised by the body within 48 hours.

In addition to the infant, three adults and four teens are seen in the video, with the camera being passed around between them. The van was being driven by the the 21-year-old mother of the child. The mother, adults and teens are being questioned by the local police while the children are being taken care of by other family members.

US Immigrants protest Green Card delays with flowers
Hundreds of legal, highly-skilled workers in the United States sent hundreds of flowers to the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Emilio Gonzalez as part of a symbolic and peaceful protest over what they said was a "flip-flop" by the State Department and the USCIS on eliminating Green card processing delays.

Dr. Gonzalez announced on the USCIS website late last night that the flowers will be forwarded to the injured service members recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

In response, Immigration Voice, a non-profit organization representing skilled, legal immigrants, said that they welcome the fact that Dr. Gonzalez acknowledged the symbolic gesture of our protest and are overjoyed that these flowers will brighten the day of the injured service brethren.

Immigration Voice also said that it is their sacrifice for American freedom that has made this country great and such a desirable destination for multitude of people from around the world and that they wanted to say "Thank you and god bless you" to the servicemen.

Today in History
1543 – King Henry VIII of England married Catherine Parr, his sixth and last wife, at Hampton Court Palace.

1580 – Ostrog Bible, the first Bible in Old Church Slavonic, was printed in Ostroh, Ukraine by Ivan Fyodorov.

1806 – Sixteen German imperial states left the Holy Roman Empire and formed the Confederation of the Rhine.

1862 – The U.S. Army Medal of Honor was first authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1975 – São Tomé and Príncipe declared independence from Portugal.

1979 – The Gilbert Islands gained independence and became known as Kiribati.

July 12 is The Twelfth, commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne (1690) in Northern Ireland

Quote of the Day

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.

~ E. B. White

Word of the Day

calliope; n

A musical organ, consisting of steam whistles played with a keyboard.

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