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Interior Ministry, Fatah offices in Gaza hit by Israeli airstrikes Offices of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party were hit during an Israeli airstrike which also targetted Hamas's Interior Ministry, Palestinian and Israeli sources say. France beat Brazil 1-0 to take last semi-final spot In a quarter-final rematch of the 1998 Fifa World Cup final France beat Brazil 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals, Saturday.

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Purpose of mysterious website Eon8 revealed On July 1, 2006 at Midnight Eastern Daylight Time, the purpose of Eon8 was revealed, turning out to be an experiment on how the public reacts to a lack of information. Eon8, prior to the revelation, was a website counting down to July 1 created by a 23-year-old web designer from Florida only known as "Mike".

Wikipedia Current Events
Two contestants of Big Brother (Australia), Michael Cox and Michael Brig have been removed after an alleged sexual assualt of a female contestant. At least 66 people are killed and 100 others injured after a car bomb explodes in a busy Baghdad market. (BBC). Early elections in November are announced in the Netherlands. (Reuters) Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-121 is delayed today due to cloud cover and the threat of thunderstorms. The next launch attempt is scheduled for 3:26 PM EDT tommorow, although more bad weather is forecast. (Spaceflight Now) (Associated Press) Osama Bin Laden warns the US and other nations not to become involved in Somalia and says that Al Qaeda reserves the right to "punish" the U.S. on its own soil. (Reuters) The United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to withdraw the 3,500 peacekeeping troops who are currently in Burundi on December 31, despite the continuing activities of the National Liberation Force rebel group. (Reuters) At least 60 people die from a car bomb in a market in Sadr City, a Shiite district of Baghdad. (Turkish Press) The Qingzang railway is formally opened in the by Chinese President Hu Jintao. (BBC) Operation Summer Rains: An Israeli helicopter gunship attacks the office of Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Ismail Haniyeh. Observers report that the building had been set on fire but was unoccupied. (Melbourne Age), (BBC) Israel rejects demand to free 1,000 prisoners, delivered earlier by the abductors of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. A Palestenian deputy minister says Shalit is in stable condition, but no sign of life is yet given. (Haaretz) The Australian reports Israel threatens to assassinate Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh unless Israel's kidnapped solider, Gilad Shalit, is released unharmed. No other news source confirms this report. (The Australian) A ceremony is held at Thiepval, Picardy, in France, to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

All Ferrari front row on 2006 United States Grand Prix
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and his teammate Felipe Massa won the front row on the FIA Formula-1 United States Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Renault driver Giancarlo Fisicella qualified third. Rubens Barrichello, Honda driver, wedged between the Renault cars on the starting grid and oust Fernando Alonso to the fifth place.

A very successful qualification for the only American driver Scott Speed, showed thirteenth result and for both MF1-Toyota team drivers, Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro, right after Speed.

France beat Brazil 1-0 to take last semi-final spot
In a quarter-final rematch of the 1998 Fifa World Cup final France beat Brazil 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals, Saturday.

Brazil had not lost a Fifa World Cup match since the 1998 game but Zinedine Zidane, the three times World Player of the Year who had authored Brazil's downfall in Paris, left the signature of his gifts in his trademark flair in the Commerzbank Arena.

The experienced French defense of Liliam Thuram, Claude Makelele and Patrick Viera did their bit to confine the 2002 World Champions to a single shot on target in 90 minutes. In attack pace and skill of newcomer Frank Ribery ripped Brazilian defence open and Zidane found him time and again.

Thierry Henry, who also appeared in the finals eight years ago, scored the only goal of the game 12 minutes after half-time. Zidane flighted a freekick to the far post where Henry ran in and jumped to side-foot a volley past Dida.

Zidane's performance in the eyes of experienced observers reawakened memories of his best games for France. He orchestrated nearly everything France did well and always had time for graceful turns, effortless passes, mesmerizing footwork that evaded legs to keep the ball under control.

If 34 year old Zidane played like the game might have been his last match, Brazil's Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, also over 30, were unable to rise to the same heights on this occasion.

On 90 minutes Ronaldinho had a freekick opportunity 25 yards from goal but it was not to be the 2006 Fifa Player of the Year's night either; his shot fizzed over the bar.

France will face Portugal in the semi-final round of the World Cup in Munich on Wednesday, July 5.

Discovery going for second launch since 2003 Columbia loss
With a planned launch time of 3:48 EDT (19:48 UTC), NASA's shuttle Discovery is about to embark on the second mission since the loss of shuttle Columbia in 2003. The mission designation is STS-121.

The crew are as follows:

Steven W. Lindsey - Commander - USA

Mark E. Kelly - Pilot - USA

Michael E. Fossum - Mission Specialist - USA

Lisa Nowak - Mission Specialist - USA

Stephanie Wilson - Mission Specialist - USA

Piers Sellers - Mission Specialist - USA

Thomas Reiter - Astronaut - European Space Agency

As of 3:50 PM EDT (19:50 GMT), the weather has delayed the launch until July 2, with a planned launch time of 3:26 PM EDT (19:26 GMT).

Portugal taken to penalties; beat England and reach historic semi-final
Portugal reached the semi-final of the Fifa World Cup for the first time since 1966 after a penalty shootout win over England, Saturday.

Ricardo was the hero for Portugal making three saves to defeat a resolute England team that had been down to 10 men since 62 minutes.

Portugal were the better team on the day having got twice as many shots than England and 57 per cent of ball possession. Ronaldo was a terror holding down England's left flank.

However; England's excellent defending kept the score level for 120 minutes. Portugal captain Luis Figo was one of Portugal's less effective players due to England's quickness into the challenge and was substituted for Helder Postiga on 86 minutes.

Owen Hargreaves won the Fifa Man of the Match award for many important tackles breaking up dangerous Portugal plays near the England penalty area. The crowd in the Veltins Arena enjoyed the drama of penalties in part due to the hard work of the Bayern Munich player, particularly when England were down to ten.

The turning point of an uneventful first hour, which saw neither keeper troubled, was Wayne Rooney's sending off. The striker was wisibly frustrated with his lone role in England's attack and with two Portugal players attempting to tackle alerted the attention of Horacio Elizondo. A red card rose above the melee in front of the referee and Rooney was off to the dressing room.

Portugal used the extra-man to apply more pressure on England's goal, with Miguel getting to England's goaline. But Luiz Felipe Scolari's team did not finish well. Paul Robinson made nine saves but none tested him.

In extra-time England mounted counter attacks but did not cross well and managed only four shots on target in the game.

Portugal won on penalties against England in the Euro 2004 championship and after Frank Lampard's effort was saved by the magnificent Ricardo the result did not look like it would go any other way.

Superman returns to theatres
Superman returned to theatres for the first time in nearly 20 years, when Superman Returns opened on Wednesday. The film earned $21 million on its first day of showing, making it the eighth biggest box-office draw ever for a Wednesday opening in North America.

The film has so far received generally positive reviews from the media. It is directed by Bryan Singer, who also did the first two X-Men films. Superman is played by Brandon Routh, and Lois Lane by Kate Bosworth, with Lex Luthor played by Kevin Spacey. It is the first Superman film since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

Defamed man to sue website over cheat 'slur'
Ted Hollis, a criminal attorney from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is suing the creator of a website which allows women to complain about men they have dated after being named by two women on the self-proclaimed controversial site.

The website, DontDateHimGirl.com, allows women to use a search engine to find alleged deceivers. It calls itself "a powerful online resource that lets women out the men who have cheated on or lied to them". As well as featuring a discussion board which enables women to criticise partners, the website also includes the names, details, and photographs of so-called cheats. Men can respond to postings, but they can't get them erased.

According to Hollis, two local women claimed the man was, among other things, two-timing. Mr Hollis added that he is blameless, and that the website should check the reliability of the information it contains.

Tasha Joseph, the creator of DontDateHimGirl.com, notes that this is the first lawsuit filed against her website. She claims that she cannot be held responsible for the comments of others. This is due to her status as a provider, as opposed to a publisher or a writer, under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

English cricketer Fred Trueman dies, aged 75
Former England and Yorkshire cricketer, Fred Trueman, has died at the age of 75. The first cricketer in English history to obtain 300 test match wickets, Truman died after battling lung cancer.

Dubbed 'Fiery Fred', Trueman was born in Stainton, Yorkshire and made his Yorkshire test debut in 1949, eventually retiring 20 years later. Over the course of his career, both for his county and his country, Trueman took in excess of 2,000 wickets.

On retirement from the game, Trueman took up the microphone and worked as expert analyst on Test Match Special (Produced by the BBC Radio 4) until 2000.

Speaking on Sky News (1st July 2006) former England Cricket Captain, Mike Gatting said, "He was in a league of his own, Fiery Fred will be missed."

World's highest railway links Tibet to rest of China
The first trains were flagged off on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line, the world's highest railway line connecting the Tibetian capital Lhasa with Golmud in Qingshai in China. At its highest point in the Tanggula Pass, the railway line reaches an altitute of 5072 metres.

The line is designed for travel at speeds of 100 km/h on frozen ground to 120 km/h on non-frozen ground. The cabins are supplied with oxygen because of the thin air at the high altitudes. The windows have ultra-violet filters to keep out the sunâs glare. Cooling pipes have been used to ensure the ground remains frozen.

Air trips to Tibet are expensive and road trips slow and dangerous. Three trains, each carrying 900 passangers are scheduled to run daily along the line. The basic tickets cost 389 yuan to go from Beijing to Lhasa. The trip should take just under 48 hours. According to state television the tickets for the inaugaral trip sold out within 10 minutes.

Speaking at the flagging-off ceremony in front of the Golmud railway station, the Chinese President Hu Jintao said, "The project is not only a magnificent feat in China's history of railway construction, but is also a great miracle of the world's railroad history,"

The Chinese government states that it spent more than US$95 million reducing the enviromental damage of this railway. Passangers will not be able to open the windows of the train to litter. There will be a rubbish train to pick up refuse from various sites along the line.

Critics claim that the railway will be used to assert control over Tibet as the line can quickly transport Chinese troops to Tibet during unrest.

They also claim that the railway will damage both the environment and the culture of Tibet. Tibet is home to many endangered species such as the Tibetan antelope.

On Friday 3 women from United States, Canada and Britain were detained for displaying a banner saying âChina's Tibet Railway, Designed to Destroyâ at Beijingâs main station.

âIt's the first direct, low-cost, quick and easy way for migrants to arrive in central Tibet. This will lead to the overwhelming of Tibetans and competition for scarce jobs. The eventual idea is the dilution of Tibetan language, culture and identity,â said Lhadon Tethong, executive director of the New York-based Students for a Free Tibet.

âThe railway line itself is not a cause of concern for the Tibetan people,â said Thupten Samphel, spokesman for the Dalai Lama's government in exile. "How it will be used is the main concern."

âDespite the rosy economic forecasts and dire predictions of Chinese control, the train is unlikely to touch off social disaster or commercial windfall,â said Andrew Fischer, an economics researcher at the London School of Economics.

âWhen the railroad opens the commercial service and more people move in and out of the region, I think it will be good for the outside world to know more about Tibetan culture,â Zhu, the railway official, said. âNo culture can develop and thrive in a closed environment.â

Purpose of mysterious website Eon8 revealed
On July 1, 2006 at Midnight Eastern Daylight Time, the purpose of Eon8 was revealed, turning out to be an experiment on how the public reacts to a lack of information. Eon8, prior to the revelation, was a website counting down to July 1 created by a 23-year-old web designer from Florida only known as "Mike". On the bottom of the page featured links to other pages, and a note on the "project status." Eon8 is often "offline" due to the heavy traffic it is receieving.

Links to other pages included a "deployment tracker," which featured a map of the world highlighting heavily-populated areas, and "deployment logs," which were revealed to be arbitrary characters encoded in MD5. Going to eon8.com/security listed a series of "rejected" referers; accessing the website from a link on a website that has not been approved by Eon8 would result in a "rejected referer" page. Three other links on the main page were password-protected, however it was revealed today that there was no password. Anyone who managed to circumvent the password protection would find a page reading "This is a decoy folder. Please connect to the internal secure network."

Predictions of the purpose of Eon8 included the distribution of computer viruses, viral marketing, and an alternate reality game. Additionally, plenty of references were made to the Book of Revelations and the Third Reich. The website's popularity spread as a result of plenty of Internet communities reacting to it, including forum posts on 4chan, eBaum's World, Something Awful, as well as a page on YTMND predicting the purpose of Eon8.

Schools benefit from new California budget
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bipartisan state budget Friday that invests a record $55.1 billion in education - an increase of $3.1 billion this year and $8.3 billion over the last two years - and allocates $4.9 billion to create a budget reserve and to pay down the state's debt early.

Schwarzenegger credited bipartisan cooperation in coming up with a budget he was willling to sign, and do it on time, a rarity in recent California politics.

"It's amazing what can be accomplished when Democrats and Republicans work together in Sacramento," said Schwarzenegger. "I want to thank the legislative leadership - Senators Don Perata and Dick Ackerman, Speaker Fabian Nunez and Assembly Republican Leader George Plescia - for all their hard work on the budget. We put politics aside and were driven by the overwhelming desire to do what's best for the people of California.

"I am especially proud that the budget expands preschool, and returns art, music and physical education classes to our children," he said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack OâConnell said he is pleased by the budget. "The budget passed by the Legislature brings welcome support to education in California, making good on past debts to our schools and investing in sorely needed classroom programs," he said.

He had his own budget favorites: "Iâm particularly pleased that the budget includes increased funding for school counselors, teacher professional development, programs targeted to helping students pass the high school exit exam, and expanded and improved student nutrition programs.

"While there are some priorities over which we may disagree, I applaud the Governor and the Legislature for a budget that makes education a top priority."

Barbara E. Kerr, president of the 335,000-member California Teachers Association, also likes the direction of the new budget. âThe timely approval of the new state budget is good news for our public schools and students," she said. "School districts and teachers can now plan ahead. The nearly six percent cost-of-living-adjustment will allow local schools to restore funding to education programs that have been cut over the past few years and provide for salary increases."

Still, Kerr, said, the budget doesn't go far enough. âThis budget is a down payment on the debt owed to our schools. Teachers will continue to work with the governor and the Legislature to ensure repayment of the $3 billion still owed to our schools under Proposition 98 and the lawsuit settlement agreement announced last month. That money will help our schools of greatest need reduce class sizes, improve teacher training and increase parental involvement."

How the budget affects the New Haven Unified School District and James Logan High School, or the James Logan Courier, specifically is not yet clear.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who is running for governor against Schwarzenegger, liked the increased education funding, and praised his fellow Democrats in the legislature for that, but criticized the entire budget for being out of balance.

âOn higher education, Democrats in the Legislature did the right thing, when the governor would not, and gained a $6 per unit rollback in community college fees," he said in a statement. "That is a start. But the governorâs budget will still leave community college fees nearly double what they were just three years ago. And the budget will also leave untouched the fees at CSU and UC, which have increased by $2,000 and $5,000 respectively under Governor Schwarzenegger."

Missing from the budget, Angelides said, is funding to expand health care for low-income children. Schwarzenegger "failed to get members of his own party to agree to a budget that funds health care for more kids from low-income families on the Healthy Families program regardless of the familiesâ immigration status. Compassion requires â and intelligent public health practice demands â that all people residing in California have access to adequate health care,â Angelides said.

Schwarzenegger credited a strong economy that increased state revenues for providing the cash to cover the increased expenditures and set aside a $2.1 billion reserve and an additional $2.8 billion for debt pre-payment. Included in that is $1.42 billion for repaying borrowed funds earmarked by the voters for transportation projects aimed at reducing traffic throughout the state. The early debt payment and the reserve account for nearly 4.7 percent of the overall budget - the highest in 25 years.

Still, Angelides said, the budget is out of balance and the state is running up more debt. âDespite his repeated pledges to âcut up the credit cardâ Governor Schwarzenegger has produced a budget that still leaves a $3.3 billion structural budget deficit for 2006-07 and more deficits for years to come," Angelides said, "It is a budget that will continue to shift the burden of todayâs deficits onto the backs of future generations."

The budget largely mirrors the May Revise, which has since prompted all three Wall Street credit rating agencies to upgrade the state credit rating, reducing the cost of state borrowing. One of the agencies, Fitch, Inc., cited "California's continuing economic recovery, strong revenue performance and continued progress in reducing fiscal imbalance" when upgrading their rating on the state's general obligation debt from A to A+ last month. Standard and Poor's also raised its rating from A to A+ in May. Moody's Investors Service raised its rating from A2 to A1 the same month.

Despite the improved credit ratings, Angelides said, the three rating agencies still have reservations about the state's fiscal future. The agencies "have corroborated my warning and that of the Legislative Analyst that while state revenues have improved, Californiaâs fiscal condition will remain insecure until the state produces balanced budgets," he said.

Highlights of AB 1801, the Budget Act of 2006 by Assemblymember John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), include:

Preschool through High School Education - The budget includes $100 million for the Governor's targeted preschool initiative, which will make preschool available to every four year old living in a low-performing school district. $50 million of this funding will be used to build and improve preschool facilities. The budget also includes $645 million to fund physical education, arts and music programs. Overall, $11,264 will be spent on each student, an increase of $516 from the current year.

Higher Education - The budget allocates $19.1 billion from all sources for higher education and eliminates tuition and fee increases at UC and CSU. California, which already has the lowest community college fees in the nation, will further lower student fees from $26 per unit to $20, effective Spring 2007.

Law Enforcement - The budget includes an additional $196 million to support law enforcement efforts, including money to fund Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement teams, 500 GPS devices to track and monitor the highest-risk parolees and four new Gang Suppression Enforcement Teams. The budget also proposes the addition of 235 California Highway Patrol positions, includes $56.4 million to replace the CHP's existing radio system and allocates $6.4 million to handle the increasing number of wireless 9-1-1 calls. Additionally, the budget includes a $20 million investment to strengthen efforts to fight methamphetamine trafficking and $6 million to create three new California Methamphetamine Strategy program teams.

Disaster Preparedness - The budget provides $220 million to enhance California's ability to prepare for, mitigate and respond to emergencies, including money to strengthen public health response during a disaster. This includes preparations to prevent a pandemic influenza outbreak and expanding efforts to help local governments develop disaster preparedness plans.

Public Health - The budget includes $22.6 million for counties to perform outreach and enrollment activities to reach the 428,000 children who are eligible for Medi-Cal or the Healthy Families program but are not enrolled. The budget for the Healthy Families program also covers enrollment growth for 78,200 additional children.

Transportation - In addition, the Budget makes a substantial investment in improving California's transportation system. It provides $1.4 billion to fully fund Proposition 42 for the second consecutive year, and it provides an additional $1.4 billion for the early repayment of past loans from Proposition 42, for a total of $2.8 billion. Of the $1.4 billon repayment, $440 million is designated for cities and counties for local road and street maintenance that would otherwise not be funded.

The budget is the first on time budget since 2000 and the fourth in the last 20 years. The 2006-07 budget's general fund is $101.3 billion and total is $131.4 billion. For a more detailed overview of the budget, please visit www.dof.ca.gov.

Today in History
1644 - The Battle of Marston Moor, one of the decisive encounters of the English Civil War, was fought near York.

1839 - A cargo of 53 African slaves mutinied on the slave ship La Amistad off the coast of Cuba.

1900 - First Zeppelin flight on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

1937 - Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean.

1976 - North and South Vietnam united to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Quote of the Day

"When artists create pictures and thinkers search for laws and formulate thoughts, it is in order to salvage something from the great dance of death, to make something that lasts longer than we do."
~ Hermann Hesse

Word of the Day

disparate; adj

Composed of inherently different or distinct elements; incongruous.

Markedly different.

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