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Man confesses to 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey John Mark Karr, 41, a former elementary school teacher, has confessed to murdering 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in 1996. Karr, an American, was arrested in an apartment located in Bangkok, Thailand. Karr called the murder an "accident." Indonesian health officials investigating possible human to human transmission of H5N1 Bird Flu virus Indonesian Health officials are concerned that a 9-year-old girl who died of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, contracted the illness as a result of human to human transmission and officials say a team of experts are on the way to the area to determine if a cluster exists.

Featured story
UK seeks pardon for executed World War I soldiers The UK Defence Secretary announced a plan to seek a group pardon for more than 300 British soldiers executed during the First World War for offences such as cowardice and desertion, including Pte. Harry Farr, whose family had appealed for a full, posthumous pardon.

Wikipedia Current Events
United States district court judge Williams Alsup orders Greg Anderson, the personal trainer of Barry Bonds to testify before a Grand Jury about use of steroids by athletes. US District judge Anna Diggs Taylor orders the NSA warrantless surveillance program shut down as unconstitutional. Thai police claim that John Mark Karr has confessed to the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. Karr tells reporters after the press conference saying that he was with the child when she died but didn't mean to kill her. Lebanese troops deploy south of the Litani River in Lebanon as part of the ceasefire agreement Tungurahua, an active stratovolcano in Ecuador, erupts, spewing out pyroclastic flows, shooting volcanic ash six kilometres into the air and forcing the evacuation of thousands of peoples. At least one person is killed and another 60 people missing.

Top Hollywood notables condemn Hamas and Hezbollah
In a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times 85 top actors, directors and other Hollywood notables denounced terrorist organisations like Hezbollah and Hamas for the killing of civilians in Lebanon and Israel.

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die. We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

Among the signatories are famous actors such as: Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Dennis Hopper, Don Johnson, Michael Douglas, Michael Mann, Sylvester Stallone, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt. As well as directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi. Other influential Hollywood signatories are chairman and majority owner of Paramount Pictures Sumner Redstone as well as media mogul Haim Saban.

Federal judge rules warentless wiretaps illegal
Anna Diggs Taylor, a United States District federal judge in Detroit, Michigan has ruled that wiretaps on telephones without a warrant is "unconstitutional" and that any of those wire taps "must be halted immediately."

Defendants assert that they cannot defend this case without the exposure of state secrets. This court disagrees. The Bush Administration has repeatedly told the general public that there is a valid basis in law for the [Terrorist Surveillance Program].9 Further, Defendants have contended that the President has the authority under the AUMF and the Constitution to authorize the continued use of the TSP. Defendants have supported these arguments without revealing or relying on any classified information," said Taylor in a statement. Taylor also said that the tapping violates "the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution, privacy and free speech."

In 2001, President George W. Bush approved a program that would allow the U.S. government to tap any calls to monitor possible terrorist activiy. The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority. The Justice Department wrote that "In the ongoing conflict with al Qaeda and its allies, the president has the primary duty under the Constitution to protect the American people". In her opinion Judge Taylor wrote that "We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no powers not created by the Constitution. So all 'inherent powers' must derive from that Constitution. "

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit. The government is expected to appeal the decision.

US Airport evacuated in 'liquid bomb' scare
The discovery of a suspect bottle of fluid in a passengers carry-on luggage has prompted the evacuation of Tri-State Airport, located near Huntington, West Virginia.

The bottle was identified by a security screener as a female passenger attempted to board a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the discovery of an alleged plot to destroy US flights departing from British airports last week using liquid explosives, authorities in the US and UK have banned transportation of liquids in carry-on luggage.

A machine used by security officers to test for the presence of explosives was trigged by two of four bottles carried by the woman. This positive result was subsequently confirmed by a sniffer dog.

Airport officials report that the woman is of Pakistani origin and was travelling on a one way ticket to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Amy von Walter issued the following statements to press. "The bomb squad is on site and the woman is being interviewed by the FBI," "It looks like there were four items containing liquids ... two of those containers tested positive."

Nitroglycerin, a liquid explosive, is an ingredient in common inhalers used to treat angina and will cause false positives if sprayed near hand luggage or if it leaks inside the owner's bag.

Overnight battle for Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula
Sri Lanka goverment forces repulsed an overnight offensive by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the northern Jaffna peninsula in some of the fiercest fighting since the 2002 truce.

The LTTE attempted an amphibious attack arriving in a flotilla of gunboats. Government troops drove them off, supported by artillery and aerial bombing.

According to a millitary spokesperson, Major Rajapakse, the army killed at least 98 Tamil Tigers and wounded twice as many. The army suffered 6 killed and 60 wounded.

"The situation has calmed down now after heavy fighting till early this morning," Rajapakse said.

The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is an ongoing conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils on the island-nation of Sri Lanka. Since the 1983 "Black July" pogrom, there has been on-and-off civil war, mostly between the government and the LTTE who want to create an independent state of called Tamil Eelam in the north and east of the island. It is estimated that the war has left 65,000 people dead since 1983 and caused great harm to the population and economy of the country. A cease-fire was declared in 2002, but hostilities renewed in late 2005 following military operations against Tiger-controlled territory in the east.

Indonesian health officials investigating possible human to human transmission of H5N1 Bird Flu virus
Indonesian Health officials are concerned that a 9-year-old girl who died of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, contracted the illness as a result of human to human transmission and officials say a team of experts are on the way to the area to determine if a cluster exists.

"The tests were positive. She died of bird flu. A team left this morning to check if there is a cluster or not," said Bird Flu Information Center scientist, Nurdin.

Ai Siti Amanah who lived in Garut, located in West Java died on August 15 before health officials were able to determine that she had the deadly virus and only one day after arriving for treatment at the hospital.

It is believed that the girl had contact wtih a 17-year-old male named Umar Aup from the same town who is infected with the virus , but health officials say he is recovering at a local hospital. He was diagnosed with the illness on August 12. Another boy named Misbah, 20, cousin of Aup died earlier in August and was not tested for the disease but officials say he was exhibiting signs of the illness.

Supari Indonesia's health minister stated that tests will be done on the two subjects to determine the origin and the "exact type of the virus."

Three months ago, seven family members died when they contracted the virus through human to human transmission.

So far, 46 people have died from the virus in Indonesia.

Man confesses to 1996 murder of JonBenet Ramsey
John Mark Karr, 41, a former elementary school teacher, has confessed to murdering 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey in 1996. Karr, an American, was arrested in an apartment located in Bangkok, Thailand. Karr called the murder an "accident."

"I was with JonBenét when she died. I loved JonBenét. She died accidentally. I am so very sorry for what happened to JonBenét. It's very important for me that everyone knows that I love her very much, that her death was unintentional, that it was an accident," Karr told reporters in a press conference yesterday. When Karr was asked by a reporter if he was innocent, regarding Ramsey's murder, he simply replied "no."

Karr also said that it would take "several hours" to describe what happened to Ramsey.

"It would take several hours to describe that. It's a very involved series of events that would involve a lot of time. It's very painful for me to talk about it," added Karr.

Despite the confession, ABC News is reporting that the ex-wife of Karr is supplying an alibi and says that he was in Alabama with her when the murder occurred.

John Ramsey, JonBenét's father, issued a statement shortly after the news of the arrest saying, "I want to have only very limited comment on today's arrest because I feel it is extremely important to not only let the justice system operate to its conclusion in an orderly manner, but also to avoid feeding the type of media speculation that my wife and I were subjected to for so many years."

Karr is expected to be charged with "second-degree murder. . . . He said it was unintentional. He said he was in love with the child. She was a pageant queen," said Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul, cheif of the Thai police.

"Karr will be returned to Colorado within the next week and will face charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, kidnapping and sexual assault," said official for the Department of Homeland Security at the United States Embassy in Bangkok.

Investigators say that Karr was being investigated for months and was arrested on sex charges that were not related to the Ramsey case. United States authorities were watching Karr after he attempted to get a job as a teacher in Thailand.

Ramsey's lifeless body was found in her home just one day after Christmas in 1996. There had been no signs that anyone had forceably entered the home, but police did find evidence of DNA, from a male, under the fingernails of Ramsey; however, investigators had never been able to match the DNA to anyone.

A man with the same name, presumably Karr himself, founded PowerWurks, "a world wide support organization for kids, teens and college students." A March 7, 1996 newsgroup post to alt.missing-kids read "All my plans revolve around kids. I am very concerned about the well being of all young people. I'll do anything I can to help find a missing child. I have 3 children of my own and I don't know what I would do if they were taken from me." The message used an anonymizer to hide his email address.

Liverpool's elected officals call in the Police
The leader of Liverpool City Council, Warren Bradley has today taken a dossier to the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police detailing some of the allegations contained on the Liverpool Evil Cabal web site.

This is the second vist to the Police stimulated by the Blog. The previous visit by Executives at the Council, was aimed at closing the Blog, this visit takes the claims of the blog to the Police.

House fire in Buffalo, N.Y. leaves two families homeless
Buffalo, New York – A fire that started in the attic on Abbotsford Street between Bird and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, New York left 2 families, totaling 6 people, homeless including three children.

A resident living on the second floor of the two family house called 911 at around 8:00 p.m. on August 16, 2006 and reported the smell of smoke. When firefighters arrived they "saw flames shooting out of the third floor window," a firefighter told Wikinews.

Firefighters said that there was "severe damage from the fire to the third floor," but the second and first floor apartments suffered smoke and water damage.

Witnesses say that smoke from the blaze could be seen as far as a half mile away.

There were no injuries to any residents or firefighters and the cause of the blaze is still under investgation. Residents of the house would not comment.

New Zealand army Unimog crash leaves one solider dead
Private Meredith Simms, 18-years-old, died yesterday when the New Zealand Army Mercedes-Benz Unimog truck he was travelling in left the road and fell 100-metres down a steep bank 2.30 p.m. yesterday (NZST), coming to rest on railway tracks. The soldier driving the truck was critically injured and was flown by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Wellington Hospital, where he is being treated for spinal cord injuries.

The Unimog was travelling in a convoy 14-kilometres southeast of Blenheim on State Highway 1, Weld Pass.

The New Zealand police have launched an inquiry into the fatal accident. The Unimog has been removed from the scene of the crash and will now be examined. The police say that they will guard the scene and finish examining it today.

The accident occurred when the Unimog was returning back to the Burnham Military Camp, Christchurch, where all soldiers were from. It followed a ten day exercise which involved 15 vehicles in Marlborough. The other soldiers went to the RNZAF Base Woodbourne base to receive counselling from a military chaplain, military psychologist and police victim support, they are returning to Burnham today.

The family of the deceased said their son "died doing what he loved," and have requested privacy.

Simms' death has been referred to a coroner.

Since 1994 there have been eight fatal accidents involving Unimogs.

Body of missing New Zealand student found
New Zealand Police have found the body of missing Wellington, New Zealand, student Daniel Hansman in Wellington Harbour.

Detective Senior Sergeant Shane Cotter, of Wellington CIB, said the body was found shortly after 9.05 a.m. NZST.

The divers had only been in the water a short period of time when they found the body in 10m of water.

Today in History
293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus was founded, starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica.

1572 - French Wars of Religion: Marguerite de Valois was married to Huguenot King Henry of Navarre, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics in France.

1868 - Pierre Janssen discovered helium while analyzing the chromosphere during a total eclipse of the sun. This was the first element detected in space before being found on Earth.

1941 - The T-4 Euthanasia Program in Nazi Germany was temporarily halted due to public resistance.

1966 - Vietnam War: A company of the Royal Australian Regiment fought a much larger North Vietnamese unit in the Battle of Long Tan.

Quote of the Day

"When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them. They show us the state of our decay." ~ Brian Aldiss

Word of the Day

chromatid; n

Either of the two strands of a chromosome that separate during mitosis.

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