Pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville smoothly lifted off at about 10:30 a.m. PST from Everett’s Paine Field and headed northbound on a four-hour flight over Washington state to perform a variety of basic tests and systems checks before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field.

The 787 program has been plagued by ill-fitting parts and other problems. The first flight was supposed to be in 2007 with deliveries the following year, but Boeing has been forced to push that back five times. It now plans to make the first delivery to Japan’s All Nippon Airways late next year.

Knox’s Italian ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, 25, also was convicted of the murder charges. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The 22-year-old Knox and 25-year-old Sollecito were charged with murder and sexual assault in the slaying of Meredith Kercher more than two years ago. All three were studying in Perugia in Italy’s central Umbria region at the time.

Kercher’s body was found in a pool of blood with her throat slit on Nov. 2, 2007, in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox. Prosecutors contended the 21-year-old Leeds University student was murdered the previous night.

The prosecutors contend that on the night of the murder, Knox and Sollecito met at the apartment where Kercher and Knox lived. They say a fourth person was there, Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast citizen who has been convicted in the murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Although Thai police say they suspect his death to be a suicide, David Carradine’s reps are denying reports that the 72-year-old actor took his own life in a Bangkok hotel room Thursday morning.
Carradine’s manager told People “I can tell you 100 percent that he would have never committed suicide. He was too full of life.”

His spokesperson, Chuck Binder, also told the Daily Mail that Carradine’s death was “accidental.”

It’s unclear why the actor’s reps think this wasn’t a suicide, but a maid found Carradine hanging naked in a closet. Bangkok police told the BBC there was rope tied around the his neck and parts of his body.

Despite Carradine’s reps’ comments, however, the actor has admitted to suffering from depression and was quoted in a 2007 interview as saying he’s considered taking his own life before:

“Look, there was a period in my life when I had a single action Colt 45, loaded, in my desk drawer. And every night I’d take it out and think about blowing my head off, and then decide not to and go on with my life. Put it back in the drawer and open up the laptop and continue writing my autobiography or whatever. But it was just to see.”

David Carradine is known for his work in the 1970s television series Kung Fu and more recently in the movie Kill Bill. He appeared in more than 100 feature films and was nominated four times for a Golden Globe Award.

The Walt Disney Co. says Allwine died Monday of complications from diabetes, with Russi Taylor, his wife of 20 years and the voice of Minnie Mouse, by his side. He was 62.

“Wayne dedicated his entire professional life to Disney,” chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement Wednesday. “Over the last 32 years, (he) gave so much joy, happiness and comfort to so many around the world by giving voice to our most beloved, iconic character, Mickey Mouse.”

A Southern California native, Allwine joined Disney in 1966 when he took a job in the mail room. He went on to work in the sound effects department and began voicing the company’s main mouse in 1977.

His falsetto can be heard in 1983’s “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and at Disney theme parks around the world. He won an Emmy Award in 1986 for his sound editing on the NBC series “Amazing Stories.”

Allwine was the third man behind Mickey’s voice. The first was Disney himself, then Jimmy MacDonald, who became Allwine’s mentor and passed him the reins after voicing the mouse for 30 years.

“He said, ‘Just remember kid, you’re only filling in for the boss,’” Allwine once recalled. “And that’s the way he treated doing Mickey for years and years.”

“Mickey’s the real star,” Allwine continued. “You know you just have to love the little guy while you have him, because he won’t be yours forever.”

Roy E. Disney, director emeritus for The Walt Disney Co., said Allwine did more than give Mickey a voice. He “gave him a heart and soul as well.”

“He did an incredible job of bringing emotion, humor and appeal to the character, and superbly carried on the tradition originated by my Uncle Walt, and later by sound-effects wizard Jimmy Macdonald.”

Besides Taylor, Allwine is survived by five children from a previous marriage: Erin, Alison, Peter, Christopher and Joshua.

The flight from Guangzhou, China, skipped along the main runway at Narita Airport before skidding to a fiery halt, according to footage from airport security cameras. Firefighters and rescuers immediately swarmed the plane.

The pilot and copilot — the only people onboard the flight — were pulled from the cockpit and taken to a local hospital, where they were later confirmed dead.

National broadcaster NHK identified them as 54-year-old pilot Kevin Kylemosley and his 49-year-old copilot, Anthony Stephen-Pino.

FedEx could not immediately confirm details of the crash, spokeswoman Denise Lauer said in an e-mail from the company’s Memphis office. Police could confirm only that the two crew member has died.

The plane smashed into the longer of Narita’s two runways, which remained closed Monday morning with all incoming flights diverted, said airport spokeswoman Misuho Fukuda.

Ikuo Uda, a spokesman for Narita International Airport Corp., which manages the airport, said 16 international flights were canceled, and that the airport was operating with only one runway several hours after the crash.

Unusually strong winds of up to about 47 miles per hour (76 kilometers per hour) were blowing through Narita City on Monday morning around the time of the crash, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Airport officials said it was too early to say whether the strong winds caused the crash.

Local news reports said the plane was an MD-11, a widebody airliner built by McDonnell Douglas and based on the DC-10.

The 67-year-old actor scraped his arm and inhaled some smoke but was not hospitalized, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Sam Padilla.

“He is seeing his private physician” for the injuries, he said.

The fire was reported at 11:34 a.m. at Nolte’s secluded Bonsall Drive home. The electrical fire started in the living room, and Nolte smelled the smoke from an upstairs bedroom, said fire Inspector Frank Garrido.

The Sheriff’s Department said Nolte broke a window to escape.

Garrido said he then grabbed a garden hose and tried to extinguish the fire.

It took firefighters about 26 minutes to douse the blaze, which damaged a portion of the home, Garrido said.

The fire caused about $3 million in total damage, half of it structural damage and half damage to the contents of the home, including “collectibles, artwork, the furniture,” Garrido said.

Nolte’s publicist, Arnold Robinson, said in an e-mail that there was no one was injured.

Nolte has appeared in such films as “The Prince of Tides,”  “Affliction,”  “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” and  “Tropic Thunder”.

Simpson was convicted late Friday of all counts in a botched hotel-room heist a year ago.

Then, as only the racking sobs of Simpson’s sister broke the courtroom silence, the lights went out.

Court marshals flipped on flashlights and shouted for everyone to stay seated. Only the judge knew what had happened. It was 11 p.m. and the courthouse lights had shut down automatically.

“Timed out,” Judge Jackie Glass said in a fitting epitaph for the story of O.J. Simpson.

The 61-year-old Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for gathering five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun.

Once convicted, Simpson, the sports-idol-turned-celebrity-pariah, was handcuffed and led from the room with his co-defendant, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart. They could spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Kidnapping is punishable by five years to life in prison. Armed robbery carries a sentence of at least two years behind bars and could bring as much as 30.

Simpson and Stewart were taken to the Clark County jail, where the football star will live in a 7-by-14-foot cell, far removed from his ranch-style home in the lush Miami suburbs.

The once-gregarious entertainer doesn’t have a cell mate. He lives in the company of white concrete block walls, a small toilet and sink, and a wooden bed covered with a thin cushion. He probably has a view of a scruffy Las Vegas street through two slit windows.

It will be his home until at least Dec. 5, when he and Stewart are scheduled to be sentenced. They would then be sent to state prison.

Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning superstar who personified cool as the anti-hero of such films as “Hud,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “The Color of Money” — followed by a second act as an activist, race car driver and popcorn impresario — has died. He was 83.

Newman died Friday at his farmhouse near Westport following a long battle with cancer, publicist Jeff Sanderson said. He was surrounded by his family and close friends.

In May, Newman dropped plans to direct a fall production of “Of Mice and Men” at Connecticut’s Westport Country Playhouse, citing unspecified health issues. The following month, a friend disclosed that he was being treated for cancer and Martha Stewart, also a friend, posted photos on her Web site of Newman looking gaunt at a charity luncheon.

But true to his fiercely private nature, Newman remained cagey about his condition, reacting to reports that he had lung cancer with a statement saying only that he was “doing nicely.”

PEOPLE mag has released more details regarding their new cover story.

Clay says he realizes the Claymates may be in shock saying, “Whether it be having a child out of wedlock, or whether it be simply being a homosexual, it’s going to be a lot.”

“I’ve never intended to lie to anybody at all…. But if they leave, I don’t want them to leave hating me.”

Clay says he felt compelled to come out now that he was a son.

He explains, “It was the first decision I made as a father. I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

The 29-year-old born-again Christian says he came out to his mother four years ago when his brother was deployed to Iraq.

He says, “I started crying in the car. I don’t know why I started thinking about it … I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out.”

As far as his mom’s reaction he says, “She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting. She still struggles with things quite a bit, but she’s come a long way.”

Regarding his own son, Clay adds, “I have no idea if he’ll be gay or straight. It’s not something I’ll have anything to do with, or that he’ll have anything to do with. It’s already probably up inside the code there … No matter what the situation you’re in, if you’re raised in a loving environment, that’s the most important thing.”

Clay Aiken is finally confirming what many people already knew: He’s gay.

The cover of the latest People magazine shows Aiken holding his infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, with the headline: “Yes, I’m Gay.” The cover also has the quote: “I cannot raise a child to lie or hide things.”

The magazine has an interview with Aiken and confirmed that he was on the cover but refused to release the article to The Associated Press until Wednesday.

The baby’s mother is Aiken’s friend and record producer Jaymes Foster.

Aiken, who gained fame as the runner-up on “American Idol” in 2003, rarely addressed the frequent rumors about his sexuality. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said: “I don’t really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love.”

The multiplatinum singer recently released the CD “On My Way Here” and made his Broadway debut this spring in “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”