An explosion "tore through a venue in the northeast Nigerian town of Damaturu where fans had gathered to watch a World Cup football match on Tuesday," a police official said, declining to give further details. Several pickup trucks "carrying bodies arrived at the nearby General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital," a hospital source said, adding, "There are also many casualties in the emergency room." It "was not immediately clear if anyone had been killed, or how many people had been injured." A witness near the scene "heard a loud boom, and some residents said they also heard a second explosion" (REUTERS, 6/17). ... Louis Vuitton "has created a one-of-a-kind, custom-made trunk" for the
World Cup trophy to be transported in before it is awarded to the
winning football team at the final held at the Maracanã stadium in Rio
de Janeiro, next month (PAKISTAN TODAY, 6/17). ... An indigenous Brazilian boy chosen to release white doves at the World Cup opening ceremony "defied a ban on political protests by sneaking a banner into the stadium in his underpants." Wera Jeguaka Mirim, a 13-year-old from the Guarani tribe, removed the red banner from his shorts and brandished his message, "Demarcate our lands now!" (LONDON TIMES, 6/17).
