Glee star Cory Monteith dies in Canada hotel

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Monteith had played front man and heartthrob Finn Hudson since the hit musical comedy's start in 2009

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Glee star Cory Monteith has been found dead in a Vancouver hotel.

The 31-year-old, who played Finn Hudson in the Fox TV hit, was found dead at the Pacific Rim Hotel in the city centre on Saturday, said police.
The cause of death was not immediately apparent, but police have ruled out foul play.
Monteith, who had been in the musical comedy since its 2009 start, was treated for drug addiction in April, and had a history of substance-abuse.
His body was found by Pacific Rim staff after he missed his check-out time at midday on Saturday, said Vancouver's Deputy Police Chief Doug Lepard. Monteith had been dead for several hours, he added.
The actor had returned to his room at the Pacific Rim alone early on Saturday morning having been out with friends earlier in the evening, said Mr Lepard.
Calgary-born Monteith had checked into the hotel on 6 July.
In response to a question about whether the actor died of a drug overdose, Mr LePard said he would "not discuss anything that we might have found in the room at this time".
Coroner Lisa Lapointe said: "We do not have a great deal of information as to cause of death."
An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.
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Monteith described himself on Twitter as "tall, awkward, canadian, actor, drummer, person".

He was treated for drug abuse aged 19 and had been open about his battle against addiction, telling one interviewer he took "anything and everything".
When he entered rehab in April this year, girlfriend Lea Michele issued a statement saying she loved and supported Cory. "I am grateful and proud he made this decision," she added.
Michele played Monteith's opposite number Rachel Berry in Glee, which follows a group of American secondary school misfits in their quest for singing contest glory.

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Doug LePard, Deputy Police Chief: "Monteith returned to his room by himself in the early hours"

Known for its melodic covers and celebrity cameo appearances, Glee's four series had made global celebrities of its cast. The show featured guest spots by Britney Spears, Gwyneth Paltrow and Neil Patrick Harris.
Cory Monteith had not featured in the final episodes of the fourth series earlier this year and was understood to be seeking treatment for his addiction issues.
He had been expected to take part in the filming of the fifth series, due to air in the US in September.
TV network Fox offered its thoughts and prayers to Monteith's family.
"Cory was an exceptional talent and an even more exceptional person," said a statement by Fox. "He was a true joy to work with and we will all miss him tremendously."
Glee co-stars expressed their shock at his death and offered condolences to his loved ones.
Dot-Marie Jones, who plays the butch-but-sensitive American football coach at Glee's William McKinley High, tweeted: "I have no words! My heart is broken. Cory was not only a hell of a friend, he was one amazing man that I will hold close to my heart forever."
Iqbal Theba, who plays the school's Principal Figgins, tweeted simply: "OMG!! My Cory..."

What are your memories of Cory Monteith? Did you ever meet him? Please send us your comments and experiences.

George Zimmerman not guilty of Trayvon Martin murder

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George Zimmerman, the Florida neighbourhood watchman who shot dead an unarmed black 17-year-old male last year, has been found not guilty.

Lawyers for Mr Zimmerman, 29, argued he acted in self-defence and with justifiable use of deadly force in the death of Trayvon Martin.
The jury retired on Friday to consider its verdict on charges of either second-degree murder or manslaughter.
The case sparked a fierce debate about racial profiling in the US.
Spontaneous protest marches were staged overnight in US cities including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Atlanta, US media reported.
Police and community leaders appealed for calm in Sanford, the Florida town where the shooting took place.
'No further business'

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Defence attorney Don West: "The prosecution of George Zimmerman was disgraceful"

After the verdict, Judge Deborah Nelson told Mr Zimmerman he was free to go.
"Your bond will be released. Your GPS monitor will be cut off when you exit the courtroom over here. And you have no further business with the court," Judge Nelson said.
Mr Zimmerman showed little reaction as the verdict was read out.
"Hopefully everyone will respect the jury's verdict," his lawyer Mark O'Mara told reporters after the case.
He said Mr Zimmerman would now have to be "very cautious and protective of his safety because there is still a fringe element who have said that they would revenge - that they would not listen to - a verdict of not guilty.

Russian Chelyabinsk meteorite pieces go under microscope

 

Often referred to as the Chebarkul meteorite after the lake where many pieces were found, the space rock appears to be a standard "chondrite"

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Scientists have released microscopic images of fragments of the meteorite that hit central Russia in February.

A team from the Ural Federal University was able to analyse some of the dozens of samples as soon as they were found.
But the technique they used allowed them to assess the rock's chemical make-up at the microscopic level even as they snapped pictures of the fragments.
This will provide extra information on the space rock's formation and journey.
The fragments represent just a small portion of the remains of the 17m-diameter body that struck the Earth's atmosphere in a spectacular trail of light over the city of Chelyabinsk.
The team, led by Urals Federal University's Viktor Grokhovsky, determined right away that the overall chemistry of the meteorite was a familiar "chondrite".
"The fragments contain a standard number of minerals, including olivine, pyroxene, troilite and kamacite. These minerals that can be discovered only in outer space confirm the fragments' extraterrestrial nature," he told the Voice of Russia at the time.
But far more information was in the offing.

 

The way differing minerals are laid out gives clues as to their origin and their journey

The team was using a scanning electron microscope, which fires a beam of electrons focused onto a tiny part of a sample, scanning around to see how the electrons are deflected and thereby building up a detailed picture of the sample's nanometre-scale bumps and valleys.
But that process causes the emission of a small amount of X-ray radiation - with the exact energy of the X-rays corresponding to the chemical element present in the focus of the electron beam.
This is where a silicon drift detector comes in - harvesting these X-rays and determining their energy. The result is a series of what are called X-ray maps - pictures of the same sample showing the presence and quantity of different elements.
It is this understanding of the minerals at a microscopic level that goes far beyond simply telling us what the meteorite is made of, said Simon Burgess of Oxford Instruments, which made the X-max silicon drift detector used by the team.
"For the researchers who are looking at this meteorite, it's going to be telling them information about which (mineral) phase is associated with which," he told BBC News.
"When they get into more detail beyond what the main chemistry of the meteorite is, they may be looking at processes in terms of how it formed, the temperature it formed at, what its history has been since its formation, possibly things about what happened to it during its impact with the Earth.
"A lot of that you cannot tell just by crushing it up and getting a 'bulk analysis'; you have to look at the chemistry of the individual parts and associations between the different minerals in the meteorite."
The X-max technology is in the running for the Royal Academy of Engineering's MacRobert Award, to be announced on Friday 19 July.

 

 The X-ray maps show the precise distribution of individual chemical elements

Typhoon Soulik makes landfall in Taiwan

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Cindy Sui in Taipei says officials are still assessing the extent of the damage

Typhoon Soulik has made landfall in Taiwan, bringing strong winds and torrential rain to the island.

So far one person is reported to have died while 21 have been injured in the extreme weather.
More than 8,500 people have been evacuated from mountainous and other dangerous areas and thousands of soldiers have been deployed.
Soulik is set to arrive in mainland China's eastern provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang later on Saturday.
Local authorities there have been asked to implement emergency response plans, China's state-run news agency Xinhua reported, after recent torrential rain across large parts of the country reportedly left 200 people dead or missing.
Uprooted trees Typhoon Soulik, a medium-force typhoon, had wind speeds of around 173 km/h (100 mph) on Saturday morning.
It made landfall at around 03:00 on Saturday (19:00 GMT on Friday), Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau reported.
A police officer was killed by falling bricks but other people suffered mostly light injuries, including from fallen trees or being blown off their scooters.
The strong winds and heavy rain have caused electricity disruptions, a run on food and essential supplies in supermarkets, and uprooted trees and signs in some areas.
This typhoon is the first to hit Taiwan this year and there had been fears of major damage because the island was the first place it made landfall, reports the BBC's Cindy Sui in the capital Taipei.
Nearly 50,000 soldiers have been put on standby, she says.
Schools and offices in Taipei and several other cities had closed on Friday afternoon as the tropical storm neared.

Some flights to Taiwan have been disrupted, with both Cathay Pacific and China Airlines announcing cancellations.
Precautionary measures have been taken to close the roads and bridges along areas most susceptible to disaster, officials said.
Fishing boats had been returned to the shore before the typhoon hit, and members of the public were urged to avoid mountain and coastal areas.
Evacuated residents - including 3,000 from Kaohsiung city and 2,000 from Pingtung county in the south of Taiwan - have been taken to local government buildings that have been turned into shelters, Agence France Presse reported.
More than 2,000 tourists had earlier been evacuated from Taiwan's Green Island, near the city of Taitung, as a precaution.
Typhoons are common during the summer in parts of East Asia, where the warm moist air and low pressure conditions enable tropical cyclones to form.
In 2009, Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Morakot, which left hundreds dead in floods and mudslides.

Maelfu wa raia Congo watorokea Uganda

Ramani ya Jamuhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Congo

Maelfu ya watu wamekimbia makaazi yao nchini Jamuhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Congo, baada ya waasi kutoka Uganda kushambulia mji mmoja wa Mpakani.

Kwa mujibu wa mashirika ya kutoa misaada wapiganaji wa Allied Democratic Forces ADF, walivamia mji wa Kamango siku ya Alhamisi na kuanza kupora mali.
Msemaji wa jeshi la Uganda, Luteni Kanali Paddy Ankunda amethibitisha tukio hilo.
Shirika la Msalaba Mwekundu limesema kuwa takriban watu elfu kumi na nane wamevuka mpaka na kuingia nchini Uganda.
Kundi hilo la waasi wa ADF, lina makao yake katika eneo lenye utajiri mkubwa wa madini Mashariki wa Congo, eneo ambalo makundi mengine ya waasi yamesababisha maafa makubwa katika kipindi cha miongo miwili iliyopita.
Msemaji huyo wa Jeshi Uganda Luteni Kanali Paddy Ankunda, ameliambia shirika la habari la AFP kuwa watu kadhaa waliuawa kwenye shambulio hilo.
Ripoti zinasema waasi hao waliwateka nyara watu kadhaa akiwemo chifu mmoja wakati walipokuwa wakaitoroka kutoka mji huo
Kundi la ADF liliundwa miaka ya tisini, katika eneo la Magharibi mwa Uganda, lililazimika kuvuka mpaka na kuingia nchi jirani baada ya kushambuliwa na jeshi la Serikali ya Uganda.

Hali ya Mandela imeimarika asema Bi. Machel

 

Picha ya Nelson Mandela na maua iliyoachwa nje ya hospitali na watu waliofika kumfariji

Mke wa Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel amesema kwa sasa hana wasi wasi sana kuhusu afya ya rais huyo wa zamani wa Afrika Kusini kama ilivyokuwa wiki chache zilizopita.

Bi Machel amesema hali ya Mandela inaendelea kuimarika kila uchao.
Mandela ambaye ni rais wa kwanza mweusi wa Afrika Kusini, mwenye umri wa miaka tisini na nne, anasemekana kuwa katika hali mahututi.
Mandela alilazwa hospitalini wiki tano zilizopita na hapo jana rais wa Afrika Kusini, Jacob Zuma, alisema kuwa mwanaharakati huyo wa uhuru amesalia kuwa mpiganiaji mkubwa kama alivyokuwa miaka hasmini iliyopita.
Mandela alilazwa hospitalini tarehe nane mwezi Juni, kutokana na maambukizi ya mapafu.
Wiki iliyopita, rais Zuma alipuuzilia mbali madai kuwa afya ya Bwana Mandela imezorota kiasi kwamba hawezi kupona tena.
Watu kadhaa ambao wamemtembela hospitalini wamesema kuwa Bwana Mandela angali ana ufahamu na anaweza kujibu na kuitikia salamu.
Mwandishi wa BBC Mjini Johannesburg, amesema kuwa Bi. Machel amekuwa kando ya mumewe tangu alipolazwa hospitalini na amejiepusha na mzozo unaokumba familia ya Bwana Mandela kwa wiki kadhaa zilizopita.
Maafisa wa serikali ya Afrika Kusini wametoa wito kwa raia wa nchi hiyo kujiandaa kwa sherehe za kuadhimisha miaka tisini na tano ya kuzaliwa kwa Bwana Mandela wiki ijayo.
Mandela anaenziwa kote duniani kutokana na juhudi zake za kumaliza utawala wa ubaguzi wa rangi nchini Afrika Kusini.
Alifungwa miaka 27 gerezani kabla ya kuachiliwa huru mwaka wa 1990 na kuchaguliwa kuwa rais wa kwanza mweusi wa Afrika Kusini mwaka wa 1994.

Watu watano wauawa Mogadishu

Ramani ya Somalia

Watu watano wameuawa kwenye shambulio la bomu la kujilipua, lililolenga wanajeshi wa kutunza amani wa Muungano wa Afrika mjini Mogadishu, Somalia.

Mtu mmoja aliyeshuhudia tukio hilo, ameiambia BBC kuwa ameona miili ya raia watano, ambao walikufa baada ya bomu hilo lililokuwa ndani ya gari kulipuka.
Muungano wa Afrika umethibitisha kuwa wanajeshi wake wawili walijeruhiwa kwenye shambulio hilo.
Hakuna kundi lolote ambalo limedai kuhusika na shambulio hilo la Bomu, lakini kundi la Al shabaab lililo na uhusiano na kundi la kigaidi ya Al-Qaeda limewahi kufanya mashambulio kama hayo mjini Mogadishu.
Kundi hilo la Al-Shabab, linataka kuundwa kwa taifa la Kiislamu la Somalia, licha ya kuwa wapiganaji wake wametimuliwa kutoka mji mkuu wa nchi hiyo katika kipindi cha miaka miwili iliyopita.
Al Shabaab bado linadhibiti maeneo kadhaa ya Somalia.
Zaidi ya wanajeshi elfu kumi na nane wa Muungano wa Afrika wako nchini Somalia, kuisaidia serikali ya nchi hiyo inayoongozwa na rais Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, ambaye alichaguliwa na wabunge September mwaka uliopita