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China Airlines plane catches fire at Japanese airport A China Airlines Boeing 737 burst into flames at Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan shortly after touchdown. All 157 passengers and eight crew from Flight 120 have been accounted for; there were no casualties. Exclusive report on New Zealand's digital TV service An exclusive, and special report by freelance journalist, Gabriel Pollard, has compiled the views from various politicians on New Zealand's latest digital television service, Freeview.

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Wikinews interviews World Wide Web co-inventor Robert Cailliau Wikinews interviewed Robert Cailliau, co-inventor of the WWW, on the history and future of the Web.

Wikipedia Current Events
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee has ordered the Bush administration produce legal opinins concerning the no-warrant surveillance program. An earthquake of 6.5 magnitude hits south of the Philippines but no tsunami is triggered. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey starts voting to select a new President of Turkey. The frontrunner Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul fails to achieve a necessary two-thirds majority in the first round with 341 out of 550 but is highly likely to be elected in later rounds when a simple majority of 50 per cent is required. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick agrees to a plea deal to charges of conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiracy to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture in Richmond, Virginia, USA. British police have released CCTV footage of a motorcyclist shortly before his murder on the M40 motorway near Leamington Spa, England. Muslim groups occupy Sikh Bhai Taro Singh Jee temple in Lahore, Pakistan An earthquake of 5.2 magnitude hits northern Tanzania 85 kilometres north of Arusha. Mohammed Ali al-Hasani, the Shia governor of Iraq's southern Al Muthanna Governorate is killed by a roadside bomb at Samawa. The Tasmanian Labor Party expels Harry Quick, the Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Franklin. The eye of Hurricane Dean rapidly moves westward, passing just south of Jamaica, bringing strong hurricane-force winds and storm surges to bear down on the island nation, though the strongest wind is believed to have been offshore. Mexico evacuates tourists from the Yucatan peninsula and anthroplogists prepare Mayan heritage sites for the possible impact. A summit between US president George W. Bush, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, Mexican president Felipe Calderón, and about 30 CEOs from the three countries begins in the resort town of Montebello, Quebec, near Ottawa. The talks will deal with the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. Protesters representing a variety of issues are expected to hold demonstrations regarding the exclusion of civil society from the talks and the secrecy of the process.

Volatile stock market, credit woes persist
Stocks continued a volatile trading day today as lingering fears over fallout from the troubled U.S. sub-prime mortgage market continued to weigh on investor sentiment. After opening at 13,078.51 points and then dropping below the 13000 mark, the Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back in late trading to above 13100, but on lower volume than the previous trading day in what looked like a cover spike.

But woes persisted as flight to quality continued and the yield on the 3-month U.S. Treasury bill dropped below 2.5% -a 20 year low (U.S. Treasury bills are considered risk-free, as investor's bid up the price the yield on the T-bill drops).

Miles Levin - Teen Blogger Dies before 19th Birthday
Miles Levin, 18, American teen with cancer and inspirational blogger, died of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

Miles Alpern Levin received world-wide attention with the blog he wrote as he fought cancer. He was interviewed for US national news. Levin died on Sunday, August 19th after a 26 month battle with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

In six more days he would have been 19 years old. He was first diagnosed in June 2005. He graduated from High School in June 2007. He gave the commencement speech with news anchor Bob Woodruff. The Sarcoma Foundation of America gave Levin their Leadership & Courage Award for 2008 and recorded his acceptance speech in advance. He was accepted to attend Kalamazoo College. He won other awards as well. From his blog (June 10, 2007), "Thursday night was the Senior Awards Ceremony, where I was awarded a Booth Family Citation (the Booths founded Cranbrook [his school]) for exceptional sense of responsibility and unusual contribution to the school, plus a Strickland Creative Writing Award."

In his blog, he wrote about normal high school events, applying to college, going to prom, Senior awards night, his girlfriend. He also wrote about things most teenagers do not -- the pain of chemotherapy, staying in Ronald Mcdonald house, being recognized on the street of New York City from a national interview. His blog was read by thousands during the final months of his life. Family members also contributed, giving updates when he was not able to write.

Levin is survived by his parents, Jon and Nancy Levin, and his sister, Nina. The funeral will be private.

Donations may be sent to

UJF - Miles Alpern Levin Fund

P.O. Box 2030

Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303

Attn: Susie Feldman

Election complaint against Fred Thompson
Today Lane Hudson submitted a complaint to the Federal Election Commission against Republican Fred Thompson's "exploratory committee" for the United States presidential election, 2008.

While Federal election laws allow potential candidates to raise money to "test the waters," the the law prohibits them "from hoarding the money for use during his actual campaign." In addition, potential candidates cannot run ads that publicize their intention to campaign nor refer to themselves as candidates.

Hudson filed the complaint citing a financial report from July in which Thompson had raised nearly US$3.5 million but had spent just $625,000. In reply to the Associated Press (AP), Thompson spokesman Jim Mills said, "We're following the law."

The AP notes, "Under federal guidelines, the FEC will now give Thompson 15 days to respond to the complaint. Following Thompson's response, election commissioners will decide whether to dismiss the case or investigate further."

In addition to organizational shake-ups, recently Thompson raised just over $3 million dollars, but that fell short of the $5 million committee aim.

Triathletes from Belgium and Luxembourg compete in championship race
In the hills of Weiswampach, Luxembourg yesterday, the 12th International Wämper Triathlon became the setting for the national championship Olympic distance (1,5 km swimming, 40 km cycling, 10 km running) triathlon for both Belgium and Luxembourg. The Belgian championship was scheduled to take place in Vilvoorde, Belgium, but because the concentration of Salmonella bacteria in the water was too high, the Belgians moved to Luxembourg.

On Saturday, an event for children and for the handicapped took place, along with the 10 kilometre running event. On Sunday, the Juniors and the athletes for the Promotion race started the day, followed at 15:00 by the elite athletes. Even though dark clouds hung over Weiswampach most of the afternoon, there was only a short rain shower during the cycling course.

In the men's race, Peter Croes (Belgium, Atriac team) and Dirk Bockel (Luxembourg, Celtic Diekirck team) started together for the final 10 kilometre run, but Bockel managed to outrun Croes by 23 seconds, prolonging his victory of last year. Last year's winner, Stijn Goris from Belgium (LTTL team), came in third, followed closely by Bas Diederen from the Netherlands. Lander Dircken (Atriac, Belgium) came in fifth.

In the women's race, the top two athletes remained the same as last year; Elisabeth "Liz" May from Luxembourg managed to stay ahead of a pursuing group the entire race, and finished first ahead of Jessica Mayon. Mayon secured the title of Belgian 1/4 Triathlon champion, in addition to the previously won Sprint Triathlon and Long Distance championships. Evelyn Williamson from New Zealand finished third.

Woman dies when pet camel tries to mate with her
An unnamed woman from Mitchell, Queensland, Australia has died after her pet camel knocked her down to the ground, stomped on her, and then laid on top of her, in what police suspect was an attempt by the camel to mate with her. The woman was found at 18:30 (AEST) by her husband after he finished feeding his stock at the family ranch.

The woman in question had a fondness for exotic pets, and received the camel as a 60th birthday present. The camel was 10 months old, and weighed 152kg (336lbs). Camels have lived in Australia since they were transported there in the 1840s. Camels are not normally aggressive, but can become more dangerous if treated as pets.

According to the police, the camel displayed possible mating behaviour. Craig Gregory, Detective Senior Constable for Queensland Police said, "I'd say it's probably been playing, or it may be even a sexual sort of thing." One camel expert, Craig Hill, claimed that the animal's behaviour was definitely sexual.

China Airlines plane catches fire at Japanese airport
China Airlines Flight 120, a Boeing 737 800, burst into flames at Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan shortly after touchdown, with 157 passengers and 8 crew aboard. All passengers and crew have been accounted for; there were no casualties.

The plane was on the ground when the fire broke out and some reports say that all the passengers and crew made it off the plane safely. The pilots were seen jumping from the cockpit seconds before an explosion ripped through the plane.

The plane was flying from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, and its final destination was Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

Initial reports from ground personnel suggest that a fuel leak in the right engine could have started a series of explosions. Firefighters are currently working to put out the fire by using foam.

Sex toy 'armed' robber jailed
Nicki Jex, 27, from the Braunstone sub-urb of Leicester, UK has been jailed for 5 years as he robbed Ladbrokes, a bookmaker, in Narborough Road, Leicester for more than £613.

Jex threatened the shop's manager with a Rabbit vibrator which he hid in a carrier bag pretending that it was a gun.

A customer of the Ladbrokes shop, Wayne Vakani, followed Jex as he left and after being warned off by Jex he continued to follow but maintained a distance. Thanks to Mr Vakani, Jex's hat was recovered which contained DNA. Vakani was awarded £500 by the judge for his "very considerable courage".

The whole event was caught on CCTV.
Benfica sacks head coach after first match of the season
Portugal's most succesful team, Benfica, have sacked their manager after the 1st match. They tied Leixões 1-1 in Matosinhos, Portugal. Santos becomes the 1st coach fired this season.

the club said in a statement on today 'Benfica have reached agreement with Fernando Santos to end his contract.' The contract was set for 2 years. Fernando Chalana, former Benfica player and a current member of the backroom staff, will be his temporary replacement.

Jose Antonio Camacho has been rumoured to return to the club. He coached the team to a 2nd place finish in 2004.

2007 U-17 FIFA World Cup:Germany and Colombia draw in goalfest
Germany have opened their 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup campaign with a draw against Colombia in Cheonan, South Korea.

The opening goal of the match came in 14th minute when Colombia captain Miguel Julio met a free kick with a header. The Germans began creating chances before Dennis Dowidat netted a 34th minute equaliser, accelerating past his marker down the right and arrowing a drive into the far top corner from a tight angle. The Europeans took the lead just five minutes later after a passing move down the right flank, Richard Sukuta-Pasu converting a low cross to hand his side a 2-1 half time lead.

The Germans got their 3rd goal of the game with a similar move just after half time. Toni Kroos supplied a cross for Dowidat to poke him his second of the game on 49th minute. Colombia responded with a converted penalty shot and a long range goal from Cristian Nazarith in the 66th minute and 88th minute respectively.

Heiko Herrlich (GER), Germany coach: "We knew Colombia were very dangerous at set plays, and that's how they scored their first goal. But compliments to my team for hitting back straightaway. We were in the driving seat after that and thoroughly deserved our lead. Colombia played a lot of long balls in the second half, exactly as we expected, and that's how they ended up equalising. Obviously, my lads are a shade disappointed because we've thrown it away today. But I can't fault my players, they gave everything in difficult conditions. Colombia kept clean sheets against Brazil and Argentina at the South American championships, but we've scored three against them today."

Eduardo Lara (COL), Colombia coach: "That was a crucial match for us. We started well, but unfortunately we fell 3-1 behind, so I'm incredibly proud of the fact we were able to turn it around. Normally, our main strength is our organisation, but unfortunately we made a few unnecessary errors in defence today, and that has to change. Cristian Nazarith was excellent today, but all my players are working very hard for our success and for the team."

Nils Teixeira (GER), Germany defender: "After a nervous start, we settled well. We played the better football, we had Colombia under control, and we deserved our 3-1 lead. But we dropped too deep after that, and their long-ball game paid off for them. In our remaining games, we need to keep it a little tighter at the back and not drop too deep, although there's not a lot to improve in our attacking play."

Miguel Julio (COL), Colombia midfielder: "The opening goal should have given us the confidence we needed, but after that we let Germany play far too much football. I'm still extremely happy with the result, because in my opinion, Germany are the strongest team in the group. Now we'll do our best to beat Trinidad and Ghana."

Today in History
1772 – A bloodless coup d'état led by Gustav III was completed with the adoption of a new Swedish Constitution.

1831 – Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, USA, but it was suppressed about 48 hours later.

1911 – Mona Lisa, an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. It was recovered two years later.

1976 – Operation "Paul Bunyan" was carried out in response to the Axe Murder Incident, almost triggering a second full-scale Korean War over cutting down a 100 ft (30 m) poplar tree in the Joint Security Area of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

1986 – A limnic eruption from Lake Nyos in Cameroon killed up to 1,800 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby villages.

August 21 is Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines.

Quote of the Day

Another day goes by

Still the children cry

Put a little love in your heart.

~ Jackie DeShannon ~

Word of the Day

machination; n

A clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes.

The act of machinating or plotting.

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