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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. IAEA: North Korea to begin shutting down nuclear reactor next week According to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei, North Korea will begin to shut down their nuclear reactor next week.

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Well-preserved baby mammoth found in Siberia Well-preserved remains of a baby mammoth has been found in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia (Russia).

Wikipedia Current Events
A Mexican federal court suspends the genocide trial of former President Luis Echeverría. The Spanish Civil Guard raids a boat operated by Odyssey Marine Exploration that it claims may have taken treasure worth hundreds of millions of dollars from a Spanish galleon. Cécilia Sarkozy, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, flies to Libya and visits both the Bulgarian medics condemned to death for allegedly infecting children with HIV and the families of the children. She will also meet Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, the President of Libya. The Nepalese government introduces a budget that scraps payments to King Gyanendra of Nepal and nationalises royal property. The Lebanese army has resumed shelling Fatah al-Islam positions inside the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli. All of the refugees have left the camp after recent fighting. A Philippines ferry, the MV Blue Water, sinks off the southeastern coast of Luzon leading to four deaths and 18 people being declared missing. An interim report says the Iraqi government has made "mixed progress" on the goals set out by the U.S. Congress. The United States House of Representatives votes 223-201 to withdraw United States troops from Iraq. President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the Bill. A National Counterterrorism Center report claims that Al-Qaeda has "regrouped to an extent not seen since 2001."

2007 FIFA U20 World Cup: Austria, Czech Republic, Spain and US make it to quarters
Austria, United States, Czech Republic and Spain all made it into the Quarter Finals of the biannual FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Austria beat Gambia 2-1 when Austrian substitute Erwin Hoffer scored in the 81st minute. The Americans came from behind to beat Uruguay 2-1 in Extra Time. The Czech Republic beat Japan on penalty kicks after coming level on 2 penalty kicks in normal time and Spain knocked out Brazil 4-2 in Extra Time with 1 goal in each of the 2 extra periods.

The Round of 16 continues today when Chile faces Portugal in Edmonton, Zambia faces Nigeria in an all African match up in Ottawa, Argentina faces Poland in Toronto and Mexico faces Congo.

In the Quarter Finals, Austria will play the United States, Czech Republic will face Spain, the winner of Chile/Portugal will face the winner of Nigeria/Zambia and the winner of Argentina/Poland will face the winner of Mexico/Congo.

House Votes to Bring Troops Home
The House of Representatives voted 223-201 Thursday to require most U.S. troops to leave Iraq by April 1, 2008.

US stocks surge, Dow Jones index reaches record
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed today at a new record high of 13,861.73 as United States stock markets rose sharply. This is the first time the Dow got above 13,700. Today's 2.1% rally is the index' largest single-day percentage gain in nearly 4 years.

Analysts cite earnings reports that exceeded forecasts as a catalyst for the buying spree. Most notably, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest private employer and retailer, which reported that same-store sales increased by 2.4%.

"Consumer are still spending so that was something for people to hang their hats on," said Hugh Moore of Guerite Advisors, when explaining the rally.

Another contributing factor is being reported to be the announced acquisition of Canadian aluminum company Alcan Inc. for US$38.1 billion by multinational mining company Rio Tinto Group. This led to speculation, it is said, that Alcoa Inc., the leading aluminum producer in the US, may soon be the target of a take-over.

Other benchmark indices also posted major gains today. The S&P 500 Index climbed 28.94 to 1,547.70, also a record high. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 49.94 to close at 2,701.73, the highest since March of 2001.

European football: Benayoun, Babel move to Liverpool
Liverpool FC have completed the signings of West Ham midfielder Yossi Benayoun and Ajax forward Ryan Babel. The combined fee is approximately €24.5 million.

These transfers raise the total to €47 million that Liverpool has spent on transfer fees this off season. Other acquisitions include Fernando Torres and Andrei Voronin.

Ajax rejected the original offer of €14.7 million for Babel, who came out of Ajax' world famous youth system. Liverpool raised the offer to about €17 million, which Ajax accepted as the transfer fee.

Liverpool has been after Benayoun for a while. They acquired him from West Ham for a fee of about about €7.5 million.

Benayoun signed a contract that runs until June 2011. Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez has been watching Benayoun since his days at Racing Santander in La Liga.

Benitez went on to say "It's clear he's done this very well at West Ham. Liverpool fans will remember how he played in the (2006) FA Cup final against us when he was outstanding. We thought then this was a player who is capable of stepping up to a higher level."

Babel will sign a 5-year contract on Friday after passing a medical. He admitted that he was easily convinced that Liverpool was the right club for him after listening to what they had to say.

Craig Stebic named person of interest in Illinois disappearance
In a press conference today, Donald Bennett, chief of police in Plainfield, Illinois, named Craig Stebic as a "person of interest" in the investigation of his wife Lisa Stebic's disappearance.

Stebic will not allow police access to the couples children, which has hampered the investigation. There has been no activity on Lisa's credit cards, cell phone, or checking accounts. Investigators are focusing on the chance Lisa may be a victim of foul play. Lisa and Craig were in the middle of a divorce when she went missing on April 30, 2007.

Chief Bennett said that Craig Stebic has been of "minimal assistance to detectives and refused to participate in searches." This was a contributing factor in naming him a "person of interest."

Tour de France: Filippo Pozzato wins stage 5
Italian rider Filippo Pozzato has won stage 5.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland kept the overall lead, again.

The 182.5 km fifth stage from Chablis to Autun featured eight climbs, including one Category 2 climb. Many of the sprinters lost contact with the peleton, but all of the major contenders finished together, apart from Alexandre Vinokourov. Vinokourov crashed before the final climb, and ended up losing more than a minute to the rest of the field.

A tailbone injury may force Andreas Klöden, who is second in the overall standings, to withdraw from the Tour. Teammates Vinokourov and Klöden were both taken to the hospital.

Tour de France: Thor Hushovd wins stage 4
Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd sprinted his way to a stage four victory in the 2007 Tour de France on Wednesday.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland maintained the overall lead, while Hushovd moved into second place, 29 seconds behind Cancellara.

Cancellara is not confident of keeping the yellow jersey. "When I get into the mountains, it's sure that it's finished," Cancellara said.

Danish mountain specialist, and "King of the Mountains" for 2005 and 2006, Michael Rasmussen agrees that the Alps will be a turning point in the race.

"We'll definitely get some answers on those days," Rasmussen said. "Already on the Colombiere [La Colombiere Pass], there will be guys from the general classification maybe even dropping or being in trouble."

French mountain specialist Remy Di Gregorio withdrew from the Tour after fracturing his elbow during stage 4.

Australian radio personality Stan Zemanek dies aged 60
Sydney radio broadcaster Stan Zemanek passed away early this morning (AEST) due to a brain tumour, aged sixty. Zemanek retired from radio in December last year due to ill health and a desire to spend more time with his family.

Born in Sydney on May 29, 1947, he began work as a researcher for Radio C-Fun 141 in Vancouver, Canada. He then returned to Australia and worked on the John Laws program during the 1970s.

Zemanek then returned to North America, where he covered the 1983 America's Cup. Upon returning to Australia again, he spent the fourteen years prior to his retirement at Sydney station 2UE, where he was a night-time presenter.

He was often abrupt on the radio, and revelled in being controversial due to his outspoken nature - something which won him a large listening audience. He was also not afriad to confront people who rung in to discuss controversial topics, and was described by The Sydney Morning Herald as a "professional stirrer."

He is survived by his wife Marcella, his two daughters, and his two grandchildren.

Plane from Los Angeles to London diverted
An American Airlines plane, Flight 136 carrying 230 passengers was traveling from Los Angeles, California to London, England when it was diverted to John F. Kennedy International Airport due to a suspicious passenger.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) states that "the flight crew alerted security to a suspicious person on board" and the plane was then diverted to JFK Airport while it was still en route to London. The plane made an emergency landing at 4:00 a.m. (eastern time).

The man was traveling alone, and was taken into custody after the plane landed safely. Reports also say that the unnamed individual was riding an employee bus, then boarded the plane, but does not have proper identification which says he works for the airline.

"It may very well turn out that this is nothing more than a misunderstanding with an employee who used an employee bus to get on a plane for a private flight," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

The man boarded the plane without proceeding through security screenings, but Chertoff states that the Middle Eastern man had purchased a round trip ticket for the flight.

"The individual in question was, in fact, an employee who was traveling in a private capacity," added Chertoff.

Andrea McCauley, a spokeswoman for the TSA says the flight has been canceled, and all passengers were being checked, along with the plane, but authorities did not find anything suspicious.

Passengers were told that the plane had run out of fuel and are being reassigned to different flights.

2007 AFC Asian Cup: Lights fail as Korea draw with Saudi Arabia, Iran defeat Uzbekistan
A lighting failure five minutes from the end interrupted the 2007 AFC Asian Cup Group D match between Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia.

The match, played at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, was stopped for 27 minutes after the lighting on one half of the stadium suddenly turned off.

At the time of the disruption - 84 minutes 35 seconds played - the match was delicately poised at one goal apiece.

An spokesperson for the Asian Football Confederation has said that the lighting failure was 'due to problems with power around Jakarta city'.

Referee Mark Shield, from Australia, immediately stopped the match after the lights turned out. Under tournament rules, officials had one hour to get the lights and play restarted before the match would have to be abandoned. An emergency generator was used to restore some of the knocked-out lights to a sufficient level for playing, allowing Shield to restart play after the lengthy delay.

The match was an eventful one generally, especially after half time. Both teams played a cautious first half which was devoid of any real scoring opportunities.

However, after the break, Korea went 1-0 ahead through striker Choi Sung-Kuk after sixty-six minutes. A curling cross from the left-hand wing found the head of Sung-Kuk, who moved in front of the Saudi defender and headed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Eleven minutes later, referee Shield awarded Saudi Arabia a penalty kick after Malek Mouath was adjudged to have been fouled inside the penalty box by a Korean defender. Captain Yasser Al-Qahtani stepped up and converted to level the scores 1-1 after seventy-seven minutes.

After play was restarted due to the power failure, Saudi Arabia had an excellent chance to win the match with the final kick of the game. Striker Saad Al Harthi missed a one-on-one opportunity with the Korean goalkeeper, pushing his shot wide.

The draw leaves hosts Indonesia on top of the Group D table after defeating Bahrain 2-1 in the opening match of the group.

In Group C, Iran has come back from a goal down to defeat Uzbekistan 2-1 at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.

Iran conceded the lead to Uzbekistan on sixteen minutes when Iranian defender Rahman Rezaei scored an own goal. Trying to head the ball back to his goalkeeper Hassan Roudbarian, Rezaei only managed to head the ball over Roudbarianand into the back of his own net.

The score remained 1-0 until the fifty-fifth minute, when Iran equalised through Seyed Jalal Hosseini. Hosseini headed a fast-moving corner kick from the right hand side by Mehdi Mahdavikia past Uzbekistan's defence to equalize.

Iran then went ahead after seventy-eight minutes after midfielder Andranik Teymourian provided a through-pass which found Javad Kazemian on the edge of the penalty box. Kazemian struck his shot sweetly to beat the goalkeeper and made the scoreline 2-1.

No further goals came, however Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoei was sent from the sidelines by the referee due to an indiscretion.

The result puts Iran on three points and at the top of Group C, however they trail China, who defeated Malaysia 5-1 a day prior, on goal difference.

IAEA: North Korea to begin shutting down nuclear reactor next week
According to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei, North Korea will begin to shut down their nuclear reactor in Nyongbyon as early as next week, and should be completed with the process in about a month.

"[The whole process will be done in] a month or so. A couple of weeks ago we reached an understanding on the modalities on how to work with the DPRK on shutting down the five nuclear facilities at Yongbyon," said ElBaradei to reporters in Seoul, South Korea during a press conference.

"I expect that operation to move smoothly," added ElBaradei.

South Korea has shipped approximately 50,000 tons of oil to N. Korea, and the North said that they will begin to shut down the reactor when it arrives. The oil is reported to arrive in N. Korea on July 14.

"We should not delude ourselves. It will take time to have a comprehensive solution," added Elbardei.

According to China's Foreign Ministry, six-party talks with N. Korea start on July 18. China will be the host for the talks.

NASA says water found on exoplanet
NASA says that the Spitzer Space Telescope has detected water vapour on HD 189733b, a massive exoplanet orbiting the dwarf star HD 189733, "trillions of miles" outside our solar system. The water vapours were found in the planet's atmosphere.

"We're thrilled to have identified clear signs of water on a planet that is trillions of miles away," said Giovanna Tinetti, a European Space Agency researcher and main author of NASA's study, at the Institute d’Astrophysique de Paris France.

The planet, termed a "wet jupiter", takes approximately two days to orbit its sun and its surface temperatures are estimated to be at least 1,000 Kelvin (1,340 Fahrenheit/727 Centigrade) which, according to scientists, makes it unlikely that life would exist there. The presence of water was observed by using the telescope to examine the absorption spectra as the planet transited across its star.

"Finding water on this planet implies that other planets in the universe, possibly even rocky ones, could also have water," said co-author Sean Carey of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Similar evidence for another hot gas giant, previously gathered using the Hubble telescope, was not widely accepted due to experimental noise and similar concerns.

HD 189733b is located 63 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Vulpecula.

Well-preserved baby mammoth found in Siberia
Well-preserved remains of a baby mammoth has been found in the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia (Russia). The baby mammoth, named Lyuba, was a six-month-old female at the time of death, approximately 10,000 years ago.

Mammoths arose about five million years ago, in the Pliocene Epoch and are closely related to modern elephants. Unlike elephants mammoths had a thick layer of fur.

They died out about 4,000 years ago, although the population was in substantial decline well before then with more than half the population gone by 11,000 years ago. At present, scientists do not know what caused their extinction. However, major hypotheses include factors such as climate change, hunting by humans, disease and combinations of these factors.

The specimen is well preserved with some remaining fur and substantially intact eyes and trunk. The only part which is missing is the tail which appears to have been bitten off. There is some hope that the mammoth may be sufficiently well preserved that DNA can be extracted for cloning or for other research.

Wikipedia Current Events
Six Afghan policemen are killed by an improvised explosive device in the Khost Province. Another IED kills two civilians in the Paktika Province. An Israeli soldier is killed by Hamas forces in the Gaza Strip. It is the first Israeli combat casualty since November 2006. Six Swiss Army recruits are killed by an avalanche on the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland. A false alarm causes the diversion of American Airlines Flight 136. The plane crew was concerned that a passenger of Middle Eastern descent might have bypassed security controls. A ship carrying fuel to North Korea departs from South Korea. The government of North Korea may close the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center after the shipment arrives. The government of Côte d'Ivoire decides to ask the United Nations to probe the failed assassination attempt against Prime Minister Guillaume Soro. President Pervez Musharraf praises the military for ending the Lal Masjid siege and vows to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan. The government of Sri Lanka plans to hold a "victory party" in Colombo after the fall of the last Tamil Tiger base in Thoppigala. The government of Liberia submits a bill to the Parliament which would allow the seizure of the assets of former President Charles G. Taylor, his relatives and associates. At a press conference, U.S. President George W. Bush admits for the first time that someone in his administration may have leaked the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

Today in History
1772 – HMS Resolution set sail from Plymouth, England, under the command of Captain James Cook.

1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in the French Revolution, was murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday.

1863 – Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War.

1878 – The major powers in Europe redrew the map of the Balkans in the Treaty of Berlin.

1985 – Live Aid benefit concerts, organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia, were held at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

July 13 is Traditional date of the Bon Festival in Japan.

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

umbrage; n

A feeling of anger or annoyance caused by something offensive.

A feeling of doubt.

(obsolete) A shadow, shade.

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