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Strong earthquake strikes Indonesia A strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake shook Indonesia, briefly causing tsunami warnings to be issued. Gas tanks explode at facility in Texas, US At least two people were seriously injured when gas tanks at Southwest Industrial Gases, Inc. in Dallas, Texas exploded sending flaming debris into the air and onto buildings and expressways.

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Man charged following bomb threats which closed 14 Tesco supermarkets in UK Hertfordshire police have charged a man with four offences after 14 Tesco supermarkets in the United Kingdom were closed after the company received threats.

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Two people are killed and four injured in an explosion at the Mojave Airport in California. The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls more than 300 points due to concerns about weaknesses in the United States housing market and weak profit results. NASA confirms that it discovered the apparent sabotage of a non-critical component of the International Space Station due to be carried up by the Space Shuttle Endeavour on August 7. A car bomb in Baghdad kills at least 25 Iraqis and injures at least 50 more. Mohammad Dahlan resigns as National Security Adviser to the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas due to his role in the recent defeat of Fatah in the Gaza Strip. United States District Court judge Nancy Gertner orders the United States Government to pay $101.5 million in compensation to four men for wrongful convictions when the Federal Bureau of Investigation withheld exculpatory evidence. Israel kills four militants in an incursion into the Gaza Strip including three members of Islamic Jihad and one Hamas member. Former Bangladesh Telecommunication Minister Aminul Huq is sentenced to 31 years in jail for his role in aiding Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh with terrorist bomb attacks in the country. An explosion at an ordnance depot in Aleppo, Syria kills at least 15 people and injures 50 others. Effects of the 2007 European heat wave worsen with new forest fires being reported. A magnitude 7 earthquake in the Maluku Sea off the coast of Indonesia triggers a tsunami warning for North Maluku in Indonesia which is later cancelled. United States-led troops kill more than 50 insurgents in the Helmand province of Afghanistan. Flood water levels in the River Thames is expected to rise further as England expects more heavy rain. Two people die in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire trying to pump water out of a club. North Korea walks out of talks with South Korea over the failure to resolve a sea border.

FIA clears McLaren of allegations by Ferrari
FIA governing body ruled not to penalize Vodafone McLaren Mercedes because of the lack of evidence that the team used the information possessed by Mike Coughlan, team's ex-Chief designer, improperly to gain an advantage in the championship.

World Motor Sport Council agreed that McLaren breached the article 151c of the International Sporting Code by unauthorised possession of 780 pages of Ferrari's technical documentation.

Still, if Ferrari could prove the use of those documents by McLaren to commit detriment to the championship the team will face the possibility of exclusion from not only the 2007 championship but also the 2008 championship.

Wake Forest University basketball coach Skip Prosser dies
Wake Forest University men's basketball coach Skip Prosser died Thursday morning, after collapsing while jogging on campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the United States.

Prosser was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he later died. The collapse was reported to be a result of a heart attack. He was 56 years old.

Prosser started coaching at Wake Forest in 2001. During his first four seasons, he led the Demon Deacons to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament; however, his team missed out during the past two seasons.

Before coming to Wake Forest, Prosser coached at Xavier for seven years. He had a 126-68 record at Wake Forest and an overall record of 291-146.

He is survived by his wife Nancy, and his two sons.

NASA says worker tried to sabotage ISS
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reported that a space program worker deliberately cut the wires on a computer that was bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The employee has yet to be identified, but works for a subcontractor for NASA. NASA reports that the worker also damaged a computer that wasn't bound for the station.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA Space Operations Chief, stated that the sabatoge occurred outside of Florida at an unnamed subcontractor.

The device is reported to be a recorder for the ISS that would monitor stress the station receives while it is in orbit. NASA states that it will repair the computer so it is ready for the Space Shuttle Endeavour on August 7.

NASA is still currently investigating.

Tour de France: Daniele Bennati wins stage 17; Cofidis withdraws after Moreni fails blood test
Daniele Bennati of Italy has won stage 17 of the 2007 Tour de France in a time of 4h 14' 04".

Alberto Contador of Spain, who finished with the peleton gets the yellow jersey since Rabobank pulled the previous leader, Michael Rasmussen from the the Tour.

The 188.5 km road stage, from Pau to Castelsarrasin, leaves the mountains behind and turns north towards Paris. This stage has a series of small climbs, but should give those sprinters who have survived the chance to earn some points.

High blood levels of testosterone were found in the blood of Cristian Moreni, and his team Cofidis consequently decided to pull all their riders out of the Tour after yesterday's stage.

Media sources in France and other countries are discussing whether or not the Tour should be canceled. France Soir called the last 48 hours "a living nightmare" in a mock obituary of the 104-year-old Tour de France.

Alexander Vinokourov and the entire w:Astana Team on Tuesday because Vinokourov failed a blood doping test conducted after Saturday's stage.

Rabobank pulled overall-Tour-leader Michael Rasmussen on Wednesday after winning that day's stage for violating team rules on reporting whereabouts during training. The rest of the Rabobank team is still in the Tour.

"Obviously this gives a disastrous image of the Tour de France, but at the same time, if we encourage the organizers, we can clean up French sports and in particular cycling," said French PM François Fillon.

Bradley Wiggins, a British rider for the Cofidis team said, "I don't want to continue in the Tour de France anyway, it is not supposed to be like this."

A public network in Germany has stopped broadcasting the Tour de France, and a Swiss newspaper no longer covers the event. World Anti-Doping Agency vice president Jean-François Lamour said on Wednesday that maybe cycling should no longer be an Olympic discipline.

Partizan Belgrade kicked out of 2007/08 UEFA Cup
Fudbalski Klub Partizan of Serbia have been kicked out of this season's UEFA Cup after crowd trouble during their first qualifying round match against Zrinjski Mostar. They were also fined 50,000 Swiss francs. Partizan Belgrade won the 1st Leg 6-1.

Trouble started early in the first half when play was stopped for 10 minutes after fans from both teams clashed with riot police and stadium security while throwing rocks and flares at each other. Fans also ripped-up stadium seats. 36 people were injured and 6 people were arrested.

UEFA's reasoning is that Partizan Belgrade have been fined 25 times in 36 matches over the last 5 years. UEFA have taken a tougher stance on fan violence having kicked out Feyenoord in last season's UEFA Cup and Legia Warsaw in this season's Intertoto Cup. Partizan Belgrade have within 3 days of receiving official notice of this decision to appeal.

Cat in Rhode Island, USA nursing home 'senses death'
At a nursing home in Providence, Rhode Island a cat is reported to be able to sense when elderly individuals are about to die.

The cat, known as 'Oscar' is reported to have sensed the deaths of at least 25 elderly people. According to nursing home employees, Oscar has been living at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for two years and seems to sense the deaths at least two to four hours before they happen, and he is rarely wrong.

"It's not that the cat is consistently there first. But the cat always does manage to make an appearance, and it always seems to be in the last two hours," said professor of community health at the home, Dr. Joan Teno.

Oscar would go from room to room on a daily basis to watch and smell the patients, eventually curling up next to one that dies within a few hours, but since most of the patients he visits are too ill they do not notice his presence.

One veterinarian and expert on cats says that cats and dogs sense things that humans are not able to sense.

"It's such a cat thing to do. Those things are hard to study. I think probably dogs and cats can sense things we can't," said University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, chief of veterinarian medicine at the college, Thomas Graves who also added that he does not believe it has anything to do with being a 'psychic cat' saying "there's probably a biochemical explanation."

Man charged following bomb threats which closed 14 Tesco supermarkets in UK
Hertfordshire police have charged a man with four offences after 14 Tesco supermarkets in the United Kingdom were closed after the company received threats. Stores across the country were affected by the security alert earlier this month.

The man has been named as Philip McHugh, aged 51, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, in the north-west of England. He has been charged with two charges of blackmail and two of making bomb hoaxes, and was due to appear at Stevenage Magistrates' Court this morning.

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Kitching from Hertfordshire police said, "Throughout the whole inquiry public safety was of paramount importance to both ourselves and Tesco. The successful charging of Philip McHugh has come about through the hard work and tenacity of officers and police staff not only from Hertfordshire but from other forces, and we thank them for their support."

Tesco's Retail and Logistics Director, David Potts commented on the investigation, saying, "Throughout this series of events, the safety of the public and our staff was always our top priority and we worked closely with the police to respond quickly and responsibly. These were of course worrying threats and I am pleased that an individual has been arrested and charged."

"I would like to thank Hertfordshire Constabulary and the other agencies involved for their efficient handling of this investigation. I would also like to thank our staff who acted so professionally during the security threats to reassure customers and get stores back open as soon as possible. The response from customers was fantastic. They were so understanding about the disruption and I am extremely grateful for their patience and continued loyalty", Mr Potts said.

Police are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.

Weapons storage facility in Syria explodes killing 15 soldiers
A military weapons storage facility in al-Masalmyiah, just north of Aleppo, Syria has exploded, killing at least 15 Syrian soldiers and injuring at least 50 others. The explosion occurred on the grounds of a military academy's infantry school where weapons and ammunition are stored.

The blast, which occurred at 4:30 a.m. EEST (UTC+3) is believed to have been caused by excessive summer temperatures, but other reports suggest that a gas leak may have sparked the blast. The incident is reported to not be terrorism related.

"[The blast was] not the result of sabotage. There is a heat wave and temperatures reached close to 50 degrees (Celsius) [Nearly 115 (Fahrenheit)], which caused an ammunition dump to explode," said an unnamed Syrian official.

Firefighters report several deaths and injuries, but also said that the fires caused by the blast have been extinguished.

Strong earthquake strikes Indonesia
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a strong magnitude 6.9 earthquake has struck Indonesia in the Molucca Sea approximately 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Ternate, Maluku Islands, Indonesia at a depth of 44.6 kilometers (27.7 miles).

The Japan Meteorological Agency reports the quake at a magnitude 7.0 with a depth of 50 km.

An unnamed official with the USGS says "there is a potential that a tsunami might develop, judging from the magnitude," but no tsunamis were reported.

"We have lifted the warning. After monitoring, there were no signs of tsunami," said the Indonesian head of the country's geology agency, Fauzi. Initially, Fauzi issued a tsunami warning saying "we have issued a warning that the quake could potentially trigger a tsunami."

There are no reports of injuries, deaths or damage. One resident in Ternate said that he "felt a strong tremor for almost a minute, people ran in panic from buildings. Children are crying and their mothers are screaming but there is no damage in my area."

Earlier the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had issued a tsunami bulletin stating that local high waves could be possible, but a widespread tsunami is "not expected based on historical earthquake data."

UK's Liverpool FC unveils plans for new stadium
Liverpool FC revealed the plans for its new Stanley Park Stadium today. The stadium is to be built over the next three years in Stanley Park it will replace Liverpool's long time home at Anfield. The plans as sumbitted would give a capacity of 60,000, with a possible increase to nearer 80,000.

The design by HKS is sunk some 8 meters below the current surface to lessen it's impact. The cost of construction is said to be £300 million.

Auckland International Airport may become a hub for Emirates Airline
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) of Dubai, United Arab Emirates has entered a controversial bid for New Zealand's busiest airport, the Auckland International. Merger documents have revealed that DAE would use "reasonable endeavours" to create new routes and services from Auckland for Emirates Airline.

DAE's plan is to takeover 60% of the publicly-traded airport for NZ$2.6 billion (approx. US$2.1 billion).

The chair of DAE, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, also chairs Emirates, which flies four times daily into Auckland. DAE does not have a shareholding in the Dubai-based airline. Emirates has said its long term plan for the airport is to establish it as a secondary hub, with flights to the west coast of the United States, or Central America and South America. Another possibility being looked into is round-the-world flights through Dubai, South Africa and Auckland. Auckland has been chosen as DAE's hub of the region due to Australian laws preventing foreign control of major airports.

DAE was set up last year by the government of the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, with funds of US$15 billion (approx. NZ$19 billion). One of the entity's goals is to build up a global portfolio of airports, particularly in emerging markets.

DAE is not the only party interested in the airport. Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is among the potential buyers completing due diligence. CPP is said to be close to submitting a bid.

Today in History
1214 – Philip II of France decisively won the Battle of Bouvines and took undisputed control of the territories of Anjou, Brittany, Maine, Normandy and the Touraine.

1714 – Great Northern War: The Imperial Russian Navy defeated the Swedish Navy at the Battle of Gangut in the waters north of the Hanko Peninsula.

1865 – A group of Welsh settlers arrived at Chubut Valley in Argentina's Patagonia region.

1949 – The de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner, made its maiden flight.

1953 – Korean War: A cease-fire was signed, creating a demilitarized zone approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) wide running across the Korean Peninsula between North and South Korea.

1996 – Centennial Olympic Park bombing: A pipe bomb exploded during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, killing two and injuring 111.

July 27 is José Celso Barbosa Day in Puerto Rico.

Quote of the Day

A heart, a heart that hurts, is a heart, a heart that works.
~ Juliana Hatfield‎

Word of the Day

hierarchical; adj

Of or pertaining to an ecclesiastic or priestly order.

Classified or arranged according to various criteria into successive ranks or grades.

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