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Gaza Strip pullout under way Israeli troops have begun implementing the historic pullout plan from the Gaza Strip by delivering eviction notices to the remaining settlers. Coroner makes first post mortems of Athens airliner crash victims; text message was a hoax The first post mortems of the victims of Sunday's crash have been carried out. In addition, the text message supposedly sent from the doomed airliner has been revealed as a hoax.

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U.S. study of gay sheep may shed light on sexuality Oregon State University animal researchers in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sheep Experiment Station released a report showing approximately 8 percent of male sheep are homosexual.

Wikipedia Current Events
Due to stalled labour talks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation locks out the company's 5500 members of the Canadian Media Guild, severely disrupting operations in most of Canada. The key point of contention is the broadcaster's insistance on more contract employees to the expense of full time positions. Phil Mickelson wins the 2005 PGA Championship
Wikipedia Current Events
Many countries celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Victory in the Pacific and the end of World War II. Beijing holds an arts performance gala. In Japan, in a large-scale ceremony led by the Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for people's suffering Japan caused during World War II. The ceremony was met with scattered protests. The Parliament of Iraq grants an extension to the nation's leaders to draw up a new Constitution. The US refused to abide to a NAFTA ruling on the US vs Canada softwood lumber dispute, leading to Canada's Finance Minister Ralph Goodale saying he was considering trade sanctions on the US. Israel begins the Gaza Strip pullout plan. The Kissufim Roadblock was shut down at midnight between August 14 and August 15. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hailed the move as "historic" but said Israel should also pull out of the West Bank. Conflict in Iraq: A senior aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Zubair, has been shot dead following a US ambush in Mosul, Iraq. The Indonesian government and rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (Gam) sign a peace deal aimed at ending their near 30 year conflict.

Chelsea signs Essien for £26 million
Michael Essien will sign a contract worth £26 million (US$47 million, €38 million) with the London football club Chelsea. The record-breaking offer from Chelsea was accepted by the French club Lyon on Monday. Several of Chelsea's previous offers were rejected.

Essien, the 22-year old Ghanian midlfielder, did not sign the 5-year contract on Tuesday as planned, because Lyon delayed sending the necessary forms to complete the transfer. Lyon will recieve Chelsea player Tiago along with the payment worth one third of Lyon's budget.

Essien will likely now arrive in London on Wednesday or Thursday for his medical.

Bernard Lacombe, a Lyon representative, describes playing in England as Essien's "dream". Lyon president Jean-Michael Aulas charactizes the loss of Essien as "a wrench but for the club this is a good deal.

Coroner makes first post mortems of Athens airliner crash victims; text message was a hoax
The first findings from the preliminary investigations into Sunday's air disaster have been released. All 121 on board a Helios Boeing 737 died when it crashed near Athens after flying from Cyprus. A text message, reportedly sent from the doomed aircraft, has also been revealed as a hoax.

Greek Chief Coroner Philippos Koutsaftis stated "Until now I have done an autopsy on six bodies and first evidence is that when they were killed they had circulation in their heart and lungs.

"That does not mean that they were conscious but that they had breath and circulation. They had circulation and heartbeat so they were alive."

Initial reports from the Greek Defence Ministry had suggested the bodies were "frozen solid" at the moment of impact.

The coroner stressed that as more post mortems were carried out new evidence may come to light.

Nothing is known about the cause of the disaster beyond the fact that the airliner at some point failed to maintain its cabin pressure, leading to the incapacitation of everyone on board due to the thin air at its cruising height of 34,000 feet.

Helios has said the aircraft was maintained in line with European regulations and had also recieved a standard inspection before take-off.

Greek police have also arrested a man who claimed his cousin texted him from the airliner, saying the pilots were blue in the face and that they were freezing. The man claimed that his intention was to gain publicity and charges have been filed against him.

Police have also attended Helios's offices to requisition documents as part of the investigation into the disaster.

It has also been revealed that Helios is owned by a British company, Libra Holidays Group. Helios are giving the relatives of each victim EUR19,000 in initial compensation, as is required by the Montreal Convention and EU regulations.

U.S. study of gay sheep may shed light on sexuality

File photo of sheep.

Oregon State University (OSU) animal researchers in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Dubois, Idaho-based Sheep Experiment Station released a report showing approximately 8 percent of rams (male sheep) are "male-oriented", or effectively homosexual.

By studying difference in the animal's brains after slaughter, the study also showed what could be a biological determiner for what makes a ram male-oriented instead of female-oriented sexually. The scientists' results showed that the anterior preoptic area of the rams' hypothalamus was 50 percent smaller in male-oriented rams as opposed to female oriented rams. A 1991 study of human brains of AIDS victims showed a similar hypothalamus size difference between gay and heterosexual men.

The sheep researchers postulate that low levels of aromatase hormones in the brain of a developing male sheep fetus may have kept the brain from fully masculinizing, leading to sexually male-oriented rams.

"This lends further support to the idea that homosexuality has biological underpinnings," Charles Roselli, a professor of physiology and pharmacology, said in an interview with the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

The OSU-USDA study was initiated in 1995 after breeders asked the government to determine why some rams bought as breeding studs showed no interest in females. The researchers are working under a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in hopes of developing a test which can determine the likelihood of a ram being female-oriented before it is sold as a stud.

Orioles' Palmeiro gets mixed baseball fan greeting
Back on the starting line-up after being benched in the dugout for three days, and after serving a 10-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s steroid ban, Rafael Palmeiro stepped to the plate for his first at bat amidst crowd calls of seated boos and standing cheers. 'Raffy' got a walk.

The Baltimore Orioles went on to lose 7-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays before a Sunday crowd of 30,954 in Camden Yards.

Palmeiro, who went 0 for 4 in four at-bats, had a chance in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive in the winning runs. With 2-out and 2-men on in scoring position, and chants of "Raffy, Raffy, Raffy" coming from the crowd, Palmeiro flied out to right.

After the ball was caught by Blue Jay right-fielder Alex Rios, Palmeiro slapped his hands together and walked slowly to the dugout as the game ending out was no personal triumph, and certainly a disappointment for Orioles fans.

"I just wanted to get a hit," Palmeiro told reporters. "My timing was off."

Orioles coach Sam Perlozzo said, "I'm sure it's a relief to get it out of the way," of Palmeiro's appearance. "He's probably gone in there, taken a deep breath and gone, 'Whew, I'm glad that's over with. Now I can go ahead and play real baseball.' "

Car bombing in Russia kills boy
In the city of Grozny in Russia a car bomb killed a boy who was 10 years old. The explosion wounded two other people.

Grozny is the capital of Chechnya, where rebels have been waging a campaign for independence.

Gaza Strip pullout under way
Israeli troops have begun implementing the historic pullout plan from the Gaza Strip by delivering eviction notices to the remaining settlers. They now have 48 hours, beginning this morning at 00:00 (UTC+3) to withdraw from their settlements before the army removes them by force.

The Gaza Strip

Many settlers have vowed to resist their evacuation and promised fierce but nonviolent resistance. They have blocked the gate of Neve Dekalim, one of the largest settlements in the Strip, and called upon the soldiers to refuse their orders. "You're a partner to a crime," they screamed to army members.

Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, Israel's commander over the Gaza Strip, said the army will not waiver in managing the pullout: "We will reach every settler, just as we have planned."

The IDF has sent about 55,000 troops to evacuate some 8,500 settlers.

The Israeli government believes that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is vital for the security of the country, although the decision to withdraw was very controversial, causing splits in Sharon's governing Likud party. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz called it a "painful and difficult, but historic day".

In a televised prime time address, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon outlined his reasons for the withdrawal: "This act is essential for Israel. Believe me, the pain I feel with this act is the full realisation that we must do it. [...] We cannot hold onto Gaza forever, more than a milion Palestinians live there [...] crowded in refugee camps, poverty and hotbeds of hatred with no hope on the horizon." Sharon also said that if any terrorist attacks by Palestinians were to occur after the pullot his government would deliever the "harshest response ever". But he also stated that if the Palestians would stretch out their hand in peace "we will respond with an olive branch."

The Palestinian Authority fully agrees with the Israeli actions. "We tell the Israeli people, `You have chosen the right path,'. Don't listen to the voices of the extremists who want a continuation of the occupation. I don't want — and I will not accept — any clashes with the army or the settlers," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Channel 10 TV. Abbas also insisted that Israel must hand over control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well in the not so far future.

The PA itself has deployed some 7,500 security to prevent attacks by Palestinian extremists.

The Gaza Strip has been partially occuppied by Jewish settlers for 38 years. The average per capita Palestinian annual income there in 2001 was $625 U.S. dollars and there are extreme dietary deficiencies among the Palestinian people. Israel has given no assurances that there will be a lessening of trade restrictions on goods coming out of the Gaza strip.

Today in History
1777 - American Revolutionary War: British troops and Hessian mercenaries were routed in the Battle of Bennington.

1819 - A cavalry charged into a crowd, turning a public meeting in Manchester, England into the Peterloo massacre.

1920 - Cleveland Indian shortstop Ray Chapman was hit by a pitch and died the following day, the only such fatality in a Major League Baseball game to date.

1960 - Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m), setting records for; high-altitude jump, free-fall height, and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft.

1962 - The Beatles fired Pete Best and replaced him with Ringo Starr.

Quote of the Day

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." ~ T. E. Lawrence

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