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Tonight on Countdown
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A West Caribbean Airways jet with at least 152 passengers and eight crew crashed in remote western Venezuela early Tuesday, and all those aboard were killed, France's civil aviation authority said a few hours later.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8969749/The autopsy on the body of the co-pilot of a Cypriot airliner that crashed in Greece shows he was alive when the plane went down, Athens' chief coroner said Tuesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8944885/Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as, or similar to, those of possible terrorists on the government's ''no-fly list."
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/16/no_fly_list_grounds_some_unusual_young_suspects/Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.
Keith is back!
NBC Exclusive... videotape of a fellow passenger being questioned by police the same day a honeymooner was reported missing on a cruise ship.
Democrats have decided that unless there is an unexpected development in the weeks ahead, they will not launch a major fight to block the Supreme Court nomination of John G. Roberts Jr., according to legislators, Senate aides and party strategists.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8964299/In the 1980s, when Supreme Court nominee John Roberts was working as a lawyer in the Reagan administration, Michael Jackson became a recurring pain in his neck. The pop sensation was at the height of his popularity and had no qualms about making requests of President Reagan. In 1984, Jackson sought a letter from Reagan to accompany an issue in Billboard magazine devoted entirely to him. White House staffers got busy putting it together but Roberts objected.
http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=ROBERTS-JACKSON-08-15-05&cat=ANA new edition of "I Quit!"
Have You Heard? Gossip Turns Out to Serve a Purpose. Gossip has long been dismissed by researchers as little more than background noise, blather with no useful function. But some investigators now say that gossip should be central to any study of group interaction.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/science/16goss.htmlThat's some of what we're planning for tonight's show.
Finally,
Do you want fries with those vows? Ken Sinchar and Lori Sherbondy have heard that and every other fast-food joke since they announced plans to marry at a McDonald's drive-thru, where they fell in love four years earlier. On Monday night, Sinchar rolled through the drive-thru in his white minivan, just as he had done day after day, hoping to chat with "that blue-eyed brunette named Lori." But on this night, Sinchar rolled down his window, Sherbondy slid open hers and the couple grabbed hands as a district judge pronounced them husband and wife.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MCDONALDS_WEDDING?SITE=NWCN&TEMPLATE=STRANGEHEADS.html&SECTION=HOMEAnd the honeymoon? A bit more traditional. The parking lot of the Diary Queen.
-- Carey Fox
Countdown Home:
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Israeli security forces clashed with hundreds of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, arresting dozens of people in the roughest confrontation between troops and settlers since the start of the operation.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8931552/Key parts of Iraq's draft constitution that address issues such as the role of Islam and the power of local governments remain undecided, Iraqi leaders said Tuesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8970835/Two helicopters carrying NATO-led forces to prepare for next month's elections crashed Tuesday in the desert in western Afghanistan, killing at least 17 Spanish troops, officials said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8968470/Women taking daily amounts of non-aspirin painkillers - such as an extra-strength Tylenol - are more likely to develop high blood pressure than those who don't, a new study suggests.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8961817/Consumer prices shot up in July, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and other energy products while output at the nations' factories, mines and utilities slowed sharply.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8970911/The husband of Cindy Sheehan, the mother camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch to protest the death of a son in the Iraq war, has filed for divorce, according to court documents.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8966183/Delta Air Lines Inc.'s decision to sell one of its regional carriers gives it some desperately needed cash, but the company is warning that a bankruptcy filing remains a distinct possibility.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8969496/Ga. police shoot man twice in same night. Man hit twice in same shoulder after domestic disturbance gets out of hand.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8949356/