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All passengers survive Toronto plane crash Today Air France flight number 358, an Airbus A340 from Paris, ran off the end of the runway of Toronto's Pierson International Airport and burst into flames. Fourteen people are reported injured. Russia bans ABC following interview with Chechen rebel leader The American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) accreditation in Russia will not be renewed by the Russian Government following an interview with a Chechen rebel Shamil Basayev on ABC.

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Serbian goal keeper debuts in Croatian football club Rijeka A goal keeper from Serbia and Montenegro, Dragan Žilić, made his league debut for Croatian football club Rijeka against Cibalija.

Wikipedia Current Events
President Bush endorses intelligent design, stating that it should be taught in schools, even though the scientific community does not recognise ID as a scientific theory and considers it to be creationist pseudoscience. In Ohio's Second District, voters are choosing a new congressman. The candidates are Jean Schmidt and Paul Hackett. Up to fifteen thousand protestors in Israel stream to Sderot for an Anti-Disengagement Rally. Scientists at Stanford University have used nanotechnology to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.
Wikipedia Current Events
In Canada, Air France Flight 358 burst into flames after skidding off the runway while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 4:03 pm local time during a severe lightning storm. No fatalities and 24 minor injuries are reported. At least 15 people have died following a series of insurgent attacks throughout Iraq. The Chinese national oil company CNOOC has withdrawn a bid for Unocal quelling the fears that the deal would give a foreign government too much control over American oil reserves. Chevron is now expected to acquire Unocal. In Zimbabwe, state prosecutors dropped treason charges against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, was accussed of organising mass protests in 2003 to overthrow Robert Mugabe's controversial régime. In Germany, police in Brandenburg announce that they have uncovered bones of nine newborn babies that had been buried in flower pots. The woman believed to be their mother, identified in newspapers as "Sabine H.", has been arrested in the worst case of individual infanticide in German history.

Tom Cruise orders €14,500 takeaway meal

Tom Cruise this week took the delivery service to a whole new level. Celebrating his 43rd birthday with numerous guests at a party in the USA, Cruise decided to call up his three favorite chefs, all living in Italy, to prepare a meal.

Cruise decided to fly all three chefs out to the United States at a cost of €14,500. According to the Daily Mail the chefs cooked the celebrity tagliatelle ragu, veal, and chocolate tiramisu.

All passengers survive Toronto plane crash

Photo taken of the scene from the south side of Highway 401 near Etobicoke Creek by a municipal traffic camera. Source: Government of Ontario

Today at 4:03 p.m. EDT (2003 UTC) Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340 from Paris, crashed at the end of Runway 24L of Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Following flights to Toronto were diverted to airports in Ottawa and Winnipeg. Airport officials have said 43 people suffered minor injuries but will not confirm that. There were 297 passengers and 12 crew onboard.

Speaking at a press conference, Steve Shaw of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority said "As far as we know at this stage the passengers were able to flee the aircraft before the fire broke out."

The plane, flying from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, apparently ran into trouble amidst severe thunderstorms that had caused take-offs to be suspended at the time of the crash.

The plane skidded 200 m past the end of the runway, through barriers and into the wooded Etobicoke Creek ravine near Highway 401, then burst into flames. The runway was recently constructed, and is the shortest at the airport (9000 feet).

The last major crash of an airliner in North America was American Airlines Flight 587. There has never been a fatality in Airbus A340 passenger service.

CNN has reported that the lights in the plane had gone off, during landing.

CP24 news channel has reported that Airport officials have said 43 have minor injuries and no deaths.

Appalachia Mountains coal company plays State politics

Massey Energy Co., the fourth largest coal producer in the the U.S., filed a federal lawsuit against the Governor of West Virginia, Joe Manchin.

Massey’s CEO Don Blankenship alleged that Gov. Manchin acted in retaliation against the company’s coal mining operations because the company spent $650,000 in an advertising campaign to defeat the governor sponsored pension bond proposal. The $5.5 billion bond proposal, intended to shore up the state's sagging pension plan, was defeated in a special election held in June.

The Massey lawsuit, filed last Tuesday on July 26 in the U.S. District Court in the W.V. southern district, was referred to by Gov. Manchin as having less to do with the bond proposal than with the newly increased state "severance tax" on coal. Nearly 40 million tons of coal production will be subject to the 56-cent tax.

According to Blankenship, that tax amounts to $22.4 million in additional costs for the company, but he denied the increase has anything to do with the lawsuit.

The company reported profits that almost tripled during the second quarter compared to a year ago. Of the company’s rosy earnings picture, Blankenship urged states to “show some frugality” by not placing tax burdens on coal to solve state budget shortfalls. He said his company is “playing a role” because there was no need for the bond sale and the state can afford to make payments into the pension system.

Blankenship acknowledged during a conference call the now-rescinded June 30 permit by the W.V. Department of Environment Protection (DEP). At issue was the department's permit for mining operations near the Marsh Fork Elementary School, in Sundial, W.V. The school rests at the base of a mountain selected by Massey for "Mountain Top Removal" (MTR) mining techniques. Along with the mining equipment, a coal preparation plant and a sludge pond were established on the mountain. Protest groups, mainly the Coal River Mountain Watch and Mountain Justice Summer, presented a list of demands to Massey officials that included shutting down the preparation plant, ceasing all MTR mining above the Marsh Fork Elementary School, and abandoning plans for a second coal silo near the school. They also ask that the Marsh Fork school be cleaned up or relocated. The state permit for a second coal storage silo was rescinded by the DEP the same day Massey filed the Manchin lawsuit.

Gov. Manchin in June said that Blankenship could expect tougher state scrutiny of his business affairs since the Massey media campaign against the pension bond proposal. "I think that is justified now, since Don has jumped in there with his personal wealth trying to direct public policy," he said at an appearance at an American Electric Power event in Putnam County.

Formula 1: Barrichello leaves Ferrari

Ferrari's second driver, Rubens Barrichello, announced today that he will depart from Ferrari at the end of the season. Barrichello was with the team since 2000, won 9 Grand Prix, helping win 5 constructor titles. He will most likely continue his career in BAR.

Ferrari announced Felipe Massa, currently driving for Sauber, as Michael Schumacher's teammate for next season. "I am aware of the responsibility it places on me and I cannot wait to be part of a team like Ferrari, alongside the best driver in the world, Michael Schumacher," said Massa.

Massa was Ferrari's test driver in 2003 season: "Now, I am in my third season as a Sauber driver and I can also count on a year's experience as a Ferrari test driver, an experience which helped me to grow a great deal."

Atkins Nutritionals Inc. goes bankrupt

Atkins Nutritionals Inc, the multi-million dollar company that supplies dieters with low carb foods designed for the famous Atkins diet has filed for bankruptcy. The popularity of the Atkins diet has fallen sharply so far this year leading to a drop in sales at Atkins Nutritionals Inc.

The company which has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Manhattan court lost over $340 million last year. This is despite the fact that there are now believed to be over 30 million followers of the diet in the USA.

Administrators were appointed to the British division of Atkins Nutritionals just six months ago after a string of poor sales results and mounting debt. 3 million people in Britian follow the diet.

Robert Atkins, the American cardiologist who started the diet, died in April 2003 after sustaining head injuries from a fall outside his New York office and falling into a coma. Rumors have circulated regarding the cause of his death, and medical records show that he suffered from hypertension and congestive heart failure prior to his fall. It is not known if the two were related.

Russia bans ABC following interview with Chechen rebel leader

The American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) accreditation in Russia will not be renewed by the Russian Government following an interview with Shamil Basayev on ABC.

Basayev is a Chechen rebel leader — who seek an end to Russian rule of Chechnya — and has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist incidents, including the Beslan school siege where 344 civilians - 172 of them children - have been killed. The interview with Basayev was conducted by freelance journalist Andrei Babitsky and was shown during ABC's Nightline.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said: "A decision was taken that at the end of their expiry period, the accreditations of the workers of this company will not be renewed."

Initially, the Foreign Ministry had opposed this action, which was pushed by the Defence Ministry. After Basayev's interview, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said that ABC was "persona non grata" and described it as a "rogue tv station".

In the interview, Basayev said that he was responsible for the Beslan atrocity and that further Beslan-style attacks would take place.

Pennsylvania man acquitted of rape after DNA exoneration

Thomas Dowell was released after serving nearly 20 years in prison for the rape of a 48 year old woman at a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania hospital. He was acquitted after a judge ordered a DNA test on the semen taken from the rape victim. In 1986 Dowell was sentenced to spend 13 to 26 years in prison on the rape charge. He was denied parole four times because he would not accept responsibility for the crime he was convicted of. He was released from prison and acquitted of all charges.

Rafael Palmeiro suspended for using steroids

Oriole player Rafael Palmeiro at bat.

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, one of only four players in the history of Major League Baseball to amass 500 home runs and 3000 hits, has been suspended for 10 days by MLB for a first violation of its new steroids policy. Palmeiro is the seventh, and by far the highest-profile player, who tested positive for steroids since MLB instituted its new steroids policy in 2005.

In a conference call with reporters, he did not deny testing positive for performance enhancement drugs, but insisted that he had accidentally ingested them, and left the impression that the steroids were in a supplement that he had used.

On March 17, 2005, Palmeiro had testified before a U.S. House hearing on steroids use in sports, opening his testimony by saying: "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never." Earlier in 2005, Palmeiro had been named as a steroid user by former major-league star José Canseco in his tell-all autobiography.

It remains to be seen how Palmeiro's positive test will affect his future election to the Hall of Fame. His statistics would normally make him a likely Hall candidate once he becomes eligible for election, five years after retirement. It is also possible that Palmeiro could face perjury charges for lying before Congress, but only if it could be proved that he had used steroids before his Congressional testimony.

Today in History
435 - Nestorius, the originator of Nestorianism, was exiled by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II to a monastery in Egypt.

1916 - Sir Roger Casement was hanged for his role in the Easter Rising in Ireland.

1923 - Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated as the 30th President of the United States, succeeding Warren G. Harding.

1940 - World War II: Approximately 175,000 Italian troops invaded British Somaliland, beginning the East African Campaign.

1948 - Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a communist and a Soviet spy.

August 03 is Independence Day in Niger

Quote of the Day

"When I talk of the purpose of life, I am thinking not only of human life, but of all life on Earth and of the life which must exist upon other planets throughout the universe. It is only of life on Earth, however, that one can speak with any certainty. It seems to me that all life on Earth, the sum total of life upon the Earth, has purpose." ~ Clifford D. Simak

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