Thai Plane skids off runway, fourteen injured.

A Thai plane on Sunday night slid off the runway while trying to land at Bangkok's main international airport, injuring 14 people.


The Airbus A330-300 was arriving from Guangzhou in China when the incident happened.

Thai Airways said the landing gear malfunctioned, causing the aircraft to slide off. Passengers were evacuated using emergency slides.

Investigations into the cause of the incident have started.

"The nose gear failed as the plane touched the runway, causing the plane to skid," read a statement from the airline.

"Sparks were noticed from the vicinity of the right landing gear near the engine; the matter is under investigation."

A total of 288 passengers and 14 crew were on the plane, the airline said. 

The 14 injured passengers were quickly taken to hospital.

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Showcase of Talent as TPF6 Auditions hit Kampala.

By as early as 7am, the Sheraton Hotel Lion bar had become a hive of activity as hundreds of young energetic youth streamed in to register for the Tusker Project Fame Season Six Auditions on Saturday.


Ready to face the three Lady Judges, Juliana Kanyomozi, Cleopatra Kohairwe and Flavia Tumusiime, the youth one by one queued up and in less than five minutes, a long queue had developed around the auditions area.

Of all the hundreds, only thirty were chosen to go to the next round that is taking place today September 8 at Sheraton Hotel Kampala.

The top twenty five contestants will travel to Nairobi on September 20 on a show where the final contestants to join the camp will be selected.

As was with the Arua and Mbarara auditions, the judges found a hard time choosing those to go to the next round due to the fact that most of the youth were highly talented.

The show airing on Urban TV every Sunday at 8pm. 

A participant showing the judges what she has at the
TPF6 auditions in Kampala

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Tokyo wins race to host 2020 Olympics Games.

Tokyo, Japan's Capital has won the hot race to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympic games ahead of contenders, Istanbul and Madrid.


The voting exercise conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in in Buenos Aires, Tokyo won 60 votes against Istanbul's 36. Madrid had earlier been eliminated in a first-round ballot. 

The announcement was met with jubilant scenes in Japan, as Tokyo prepares to host the event for the first time since 1964.

When IOC president Jacques Rogge - who will retire after 12 years in the role on Tuesday - announced the winning city, the Tokyo delegation jumped to their feet in celebration and waved the Japan flag.

A number of them were overcome with emotion and wept, following two years of intense lobbying.

"I would like to thank everyone in the Olympic movement and we will host a wonderful Olympic Games," said Japan's Prime Minster Shinzo Abe.

The decision means Tokyo - which campaigned with the message that "The Olympics will be safe in our hands" - will become the first Asian city to host the Games twice after the 1940 games that were set to be hosted there were cancelled because of World War II.

The success of the Tokyo bid followed a personal address from the Japanese prime minister during the presentation stage, in which he allayed fears over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant 150 miles (240km) from the city by saying: "It has never done, and will never do, any damage to Tokyo."

The prime minister's presentation also revealed the role sport had played in boosting the country in the past two years and pointed out that no Japanese athlete had failed a drugs test at an Olympics or Paralympics.

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Syrian Islamist rebels capture Maaloula Town.

An al-Qaeda-linked rebel group has wrested control of the historic Christian town of Maaloula from regime forces, opposition groups said Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the hardline Islamist rebels of the al-Nusra Front seized control Saturday night.

Bashar Al-Assad is adamant to quit.

Videos posted on YouTube in recent days showed fighting between rebels and government forces in the tiny sleepy town, an hour's drive from the capital Damascus.

"We cleansed Maaloula from all the Assad dogs and all his thugs," a rebel commander shouts at the camera in a video posted online over the weekend.

What the capture will mean for the Christian residents waits to be seen.

As the 18-month-long Syrian conflict festers, the government and the opposition welcome and need Christian support.

But some Christians fear radical Islamists have been swelling rebel ranks.

They also fear the same fate as a number of Christians during the war in Iraq, where militants targeted them and spurred many to leave the country.

Christians make up roughly 10% of the population. Syria is ruled by a government dominated by Alawites, whose faith is an offshoot of Shiism. The regime is opposed by an opposition with a large Sunni presence.

Aid agencies say Syria's 2 million Christians are often targeted for suspected sympathies to President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Two top bishops have been kidnapped; a well-known priest is missing.

Antoinette Nassrallah, the Christian owner of a cafe in Maaloula, told CNN last year she had seen government TV images depicting radical Muslim attacks on Christians. She said she has heard about such violence in Aleppo.

"For now in our area here it's fine," she said last year. "But what I heard, in Aleppo, they are killing, destroying many of churches -- very, very old churches."

Many of Syria's Christians have fled to Lebanon where they shelter in monasteries.

On Saturday, they joined in prayers for peace promoted by Pope Francis in Rome.

Last year, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on leaders of al-Nusra while the State Department blacklisted it as a foreign terror organization linked to al Qaeda in Iraq.

Al-Nusra Front has emerged as one of the most effective groups in the Syrian resistance, drawing on foreign fighters with combat experience in Iraq and elsewhere.

But Washington accuses the group of using the Syrian conflict to advance its own ideology and ends.

Via CNN.

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Senegal Vs Uganda. Uganda's World Cup dream cut short.

The time Uganda has been yearning to have for a very long time was on Saturday night brought to an end after losing their group J match against Senegal in the 2014 Brazil World Cup qualifiers played at Marrakech Stadium In Morocco.

The man that ended Uganda's dream Sadio Mane.

 Uganda faced a blow to her pursuit after defender and goal maker Godfrey Walusimbi was handed a red card in the 38th minute for an alleged bad tackle on a Senegalese defender.

Despite being a ten man team, Uganda Cranes displayed the best tactics in the game and were able to hold to goalless until up to the end of first half.

The final blow came in the second half as the score board was turned in the 84th minute in favor of Senegal through Sadio Mane.

Uganda Cranes missed quite a number of scoring chances, leaving it to Senegal to go through after the 1-0 score.

Senegal holds on to the top of group J with 12 points and Uganda's hope ends in second place with 8 points.

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Devastating Floods hit Russia.

Nearly 300 houses with over 900 inhabitants have been inundated in a suburb of the Far Eastern Russian city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur after a nearby dam was destroyed in rising floods.

A flooded area around Khabarovsk Region in Russia.

Up to 700 people have been evacuated so far, local Emergencies Ministry reported. The Mendeleyev settlement, where the dam is located, is home to 4,500 people and about a thousand of them are said to be in immediate danger. 

Those living on ground and second floors of apartment buildings have been evacuated, while inhabitants of apartments on higher floors are currently refusing to leave, Emergency Situations First Deputy Minister, Sergey Shlyakov, told RIA news. 

“Water and food supplies have been organized for them,” he added. 

Hot water has been cut off in the Mendeleyev settlement, while drinking water is currently being brought up by tankers. 19 rescue workers have been on duty overnight with six boats, as well as Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations' Mi-8 helicopter. 

Up to 16,000 people have already been evacuated and 98,800 people have been affected by the ongoing flooding of the Amur River. Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev said on Wednesday that Russia’s federal government is providing $360 million in aid to parts of the Far East that have been devastated by the raging flash floods.

The most difficult situation is near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in the flood-hit Khabarovsk territory, where the level of the Amur River is growing by 13-15 centimeters a day, and has already reached 8.71 meters. According to Trutnev, a further 36,000 people might need to be evacuated from the area if flood waters continue to rise. 

Rescuers evacuating people.

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D-Day. Uganda Cranes Vs Senegal.

It is finally here. The long awaited day when Uganda expects history to be written has finally reached. It is the day for the make or break football match between Uganda and Senegal in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers tie.


Uganda has waited for centuries to have a moment like this since they have never featured in a World cup tournament.

The tie is to be held in Morocco at 11pm.

Uganda awaits a moment like this today.

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