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28 injured Taiwan in plane crash by Christopher Bodeen Associated Press Tmpb, TAIWAN — A domestic passenger jet caught fire Tuesday after an apparent explosion during its landing in east-central Taiwan, injuring 28 of the % people aboard, of ficials said. There were no fatalities. The fiery landing of the UNI Airlines MD-90 was the second accident involving a Taiwanese airline in just three days. In both cases, the planes were manufactured by Mc Donnell Douglas Corp. As the jet touched down in Tuesday’s accident, there was a loud noise from the front of the cabin, and thick black smoke poured from one of the overhead luggage compart ments, said the airline’s vice president, Si Chung-ching. “There was an explosion above us, and many people had bums on their faces or holes in their clothes,” a passenger told the TVBS cable station. Television footage showed black smoke belching from the plane’s fuselage as firefighters struggled to douse the flames. Si said the passengers were quickly evacuated. It took about 3t) minutes to put out the fire. Many passengers suffered facial bums. The two most seriously hurt, a man and a woman, were burned on over 60 percent of their bodies, Si said. Many others were treated and released from Tse-Chi Hospital, a doctor said. Following an initial investigation, Transport Minister Lin Fong-cheng said there apparently was some type of an explosion in the plane. Authorities have yet to determine what caused it. Eyewitnesses reported a ball of fire on the runway after the jet landed at the Hualien Airport, 108 miles southeast of Taipei, following a 25-minute flight from the capital. Tuesday’s incident comes two days after a China Air lines MD-11 jetliner flying out of Bangkok burst into flames as the pilot tried to land in Hong Kong. Two people aboard the Taiwanese carrier were killed, and more than 200 were injured. In Taipei today, a Taiwanese aviation regulator offered an explanation for that crash. He said the pilot tried to land in stormy crosswinds that exceeded his safety threshold af ter getting faulty information from his co-pilot. The co-pilot, Liu Cheng-hsi, had told the pilot, Gerar do Lettich, that the winds were blowing at 26 miles per hour, but in fact they were blowing at 30 miles per hour, said Chang Kuo-cheng, the deputy director general of Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration. “Whether Liu Chen-hsi calculated wrong, or misread, or whether there was poor communication with the pilot —that can be immediately discovered once the Hong Kong authorities analyze the cockpit voice recorder,” Chang said. Of the 211 injured people, 48 were still in the hospital this afternoon, including one in critical condition and three in serious condition, a Hong Kong government spokes woman said. U.S. safety investigators arrived in Hong Kong today. Representatives from the U.S. National Transportation Safe ty Board, aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. and jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney will assist the Hong Kong and Taiwanese teams already in place. The jet, an MD-11, was also made by McDonnell Dou glas, which has been purchased by Seattle-based Boeing. Second Million Youth March denied permit by Timothy Williams Associated Press " New York — The leader of a rally that included inflammatory speeches and a brawl with police officers a year ago has accused the city of racism for rejecting a request for another march. Police Commissioner Howard Safir said Monday he will not issue a permit for a second Million Youth March, proposed for next month in Harlem. The dispute likely will go to federal court — as it did last year. Safir’s decision was denounced by Khal lid Abdul Muhammad, the main oiganiz er of the march which, the city said at tracted 6,000 people last year. Muhammad said it brought in 300,000 people, and he vowed to march Sept. 4 despite the stand by city officials. “We want to make it clear here today that no devil, racist, cantankerous, consti pated cracker like Mayor Giuliani can stop” the march, Muhammad said. Giuliani’s of fice had no comment. Muhammad made his comments at a news conference out side City Hall during which organizers de nounced Jews and whites. The march took place wily after fed eral courts overruled the city. . The four-hour event featured dozens of inflammatory speeches denouncing whites, Jews, black elected officials and police. As the rally wound down, Muham mad’s closing speech ran beyond the al lotted time and police officers in riot gear moved toward the stage while police he licopters flew low over the crowd. Muham mad exhorted the crowd to beat or shoot officers if they were attached, and some members of the audience threw barricades, chairs and bottles. Twenty-eight people were injured. Cursing canoeist sentenced to community service by John Flesher Associated Press Stamhsh, Michigan — Being nationally known as the potty-mouthed canoeist has made Timothy Boomer think twice about what he yells in public. “Tve learned my lesson,” Boomer said Monday after a judge sentenced him to four days of community service and a choice of three days in jail or a $75 fine for cursing near children. “Every day I’m teased, every day I’m harassed, every day someone can’t walk by without saying, ‘Watch your mouth, here’s the cursing canoeist.’ I’ll hear it every day for the rest of my life,” he said. The 25-year-old computer programmer admitted he let loose with a stream of a pro fanities after tumbling out of a canoe last summer on the Rifle River. A nearby couple with two young chil dren said they were so horrified by his blue streak, they paddled swiftly away. The sheriff’s deputy who ticketed Boomer said he could hear the shouts from a quarter-mile away. A jury convicted Boomer in June of vi olating Michigan’s 102-year-old ban on us ing profanity in the presence of children. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Boomer, contends his freedom of speech was violated. Prosecutors argued the outburst wasn’t protected because it conveyed no specific thought. District Judge Allen Yenior, who or dered Boomer to work in a child-care pro gram as community service, put the sentence on hold while the conviction is appealed. “I know I am being punished by a law that not one person in a million in Ameri ca ever thought existed,” Boomer said. When asked whether he has cleaned up his language since the incident, Boomer replied, “1 sure have.” , Study: 11 million addicted to Internet by Jeff Donn Associated Press Boston—The largest study ever of In temet users has found that almost 6 per cent, or more than 11 million users, suf fer from some form of addiction to the World Wide Web. The findings, which were released Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, ap pear likely to bolster the expanding ac ceptance of compulsive Internet use as a real psychological disorder. “Marriages are being disrupted, kids are getting into trouble, people are com mitting illegal acts, people are spending too much money. As someone who treats patients, I see it, ” said David Greenfield, a therapist and researcher who conduct ed the study. lumoeny i oung, a pioneer in me new field of research, said the study is so broad that it “adds a layer of legitimacy to the concern that Internet addiction is real.” However, the 6 percent figure is low er than some earlier estimates of 10 per cent or more that stemmed laigely from research on college students. Greenfield, who is a psychologist in West Hartford, Conn., carried out the study jointly with ABC News. He col lected 17,251 responses to an Internet use questionnaire distributed and returned through the Web site ABCNEWS.com. He adapted his questions from a wide ly used set of criteria for gambling ad diction. For example, the questionnaires asked if participants had used the Inter net to escape from their problems, tried unsuccessfully to cut back, or found themselves preoccupied with the Inter net when they were no longer at the com puter. If participants answered “yes’ ’ to at ADDICTION SEE PAGE 5 Briefs ■ Federal Reserve raises interest rates Washington (AP)—The Federal Re serve raised interest rates Tuesday by a quarter point in an effort to cool the economy by making it more expensive for Americans to borrow. The Fed said it was increasing its tar get for the federal funds rates, the interest that banks charge each other on overnight loans, to 5.25 percent from 5 percent. It marked the second time this sum mer that the Fed has raised this rate. It boosted the funds rate from 4.75 percent to 5 percent on June 30, the first increase in two years. Wall Street, which had anticipated the increase, appeared to shrug off the news. The Dow Jones average of 30 blue-chip industrial stocks rose slightly, and the yield on long-term bonds held steady. To drive home its efforts to fight in flation, the Fed also raised the discount rate, the interest that it chaiges for direct loans to banks, by a quarter of a point, as well. The discount rate was increased to 4.75 percent, the first increase in the dis count since Feb. 1,1995. ■ Gun buyback program a success Washmgton (AP) — So successful was a District of Columbia program to buy guns from citizens for $100 each that city offi cials have added $100,000 to use for the pur chases. By day’s end Monday, 1,164guns were turned in for payment, police said. In just the first half-hour, people hand ed over around 400 guns at the seven police district offices, assistant chief Terry Gainer said. That’s half as many firearms as normally are confiscated in the district in a year, he said. Shortly after the program began, Gain er said, police decided to spend an extra $25,000 for what was to have been a $100,000 program. By Monday night, they had de cided to add another $100,000 to the pro gram. ' People who -cmed in guns did not have to give police officers their names and were granted amnesty from the city’s law barring people from owning handguns or other ille gal firearms, police spokesman Sgt. Joe Gen tile said. 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