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Twenty-three miners were killed on Tuesday in a gas explosion in the Halemba mine in southern Poland. President Lech Kaczynski said three days of national mourning would start immediately. The death toll is the Polish industry's highest since a blast at another mine in the same Silesia region in 1979 killed 34. Poland's state-run mining industry has suffered more than 150 deaths over the last 30 years.

DEFINITION: (noun) A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.). SYNONYMS: monocracy, dictatorship, totalitarianism, tyranny, authoritarianism, despotism, absolutism. USAGE: The people had philosophical problems with the shogunate, but they had to admit that trade and commerce were flourishing under its rule.

Billy the Kid, whose real name was Henry McCarty, was an infamous outlaw and murderer who roamed the American West from his teenage years until his death at the age of 21. The young fugitive successfully escaped from prison several times before being killed by his friend Pat Garrett, a local sheriff. Although rooted in history, the story of Billy the Kid has developed into a popular legend. What role did he play in the eruption of the Lincoln County Cattle War?

This long-running science fiction program about a mysterious time-traveling adventurer known only as "the Doctor" has become a significant part of British popular culture. Despite its featuring of low-budget special effects, it was widely recognized for creative storytelling and use of innovative music. After twenty-six seasons and a TV movie, Doctor Who recently reappeared as a new series. What machine does the Doctor use to travel through time and space?

Castanets are percussion instruments used in North African, Roma, Spanish, and Latin American music. The most common type consists of two small matching pieces of hard wood or ivory, joined at the inner edge and used with a thin strap in the player's hand; they are snapped together between the palm and fingers and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. What is the origin of the instrument's name?