The Starting Point: Wildfires, moon landings and uranium mining

The Starting Point is a snapshot of the news stories that occurred overnight. Look for updates throughout the day on Yahoo! News and in the news box on Yahoo.com.

Top story overnight: A British fighter jet crashed at the Kandahar Airfield during takeoff this morning, The Associated Press reported. The two-member crew of the Royal Air Force GR 4 Tornado ejected before impact and is being treated for unspecified injuries at the base hospital. While four aircraft have gone down in Afghanistan in the past three days, military officials say there doesn't appear to be any common reason for the crashes.

In other news: Wildfires in western Canada forced 17,000 people to evacuate from their homes and businesses this weekend. According to Reuters, wind and dry conditions have fueled the large blazes, which broke out over the weekend near Kelowna, British Columbia. At the time of this writing, no injuries or deaths have been reported; however, at least three homes were destroyed. Click here to view images of the smoke and flames.

The Interior Department plans to temporarily halt the filing of new uranium mining claims on about 1 million acres near the Grand Canyon, The AP reported. The land is being "segregated" for two years so that the department can study whether it should be permanently withdrawn from mining activity. To date, there are as many as 10,000 existing mining claims on the lands nearest the canyon. But conservationists say mining leaves the national landmark vulnerable to environmental damage.

Lastly, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and educator Frank McCourt died yesterday of cancer. He was 78. McCourt taught English in various New York City high schools for three decades, but he shot to prominence in 1996 with the publication of his bestselling memoir "Angela's Ashes." The book, which chronicled his difficult childhood in Ireland, was published in 25 languages and adapted into a feature film.

Most-read stories overnight: The British teenager who spent 12 days lost in the Australian wilderness gave an interview yesterday about his misadventures. During the conversation with Australia's "60 Minutes" program, Jamie Neale, 19, said he was "a total idiot" for venturing unprepared into the Blue Mountains, 60 miles west of Sydney. "In the U.K., you can walk for a day and you'd end up in a pub," Neale said. "Out here, you can get lost so easily. You should respect the fact, be more prepared and think about what you are doing a lot more."

Readers were also interested in this AP article about Al Roker's new TV show. The popular NBC weatherman debuted his new hour-long program "Wake Up With Al" this morning on The Weather Channel. The show features news and business headlines along with weather reports, and is co-hosted by meteorologist Stephanie Abrams. "Wake Up With Al" will also offer a special "Take it or Leave it" segment where he will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down review of the weather in a particular city.

Looking ahead: President Barack Obama will hold a round-table discussion on health care in Washington today. He will then meet with the Apollo 11 crew at the White House. Also, former NFL star Michael Vick's dogfighting sentence ends today.

Last week's poll: After three days of hearings, the Judiciary Committee has scheduled a confirmation vote for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Do you think she will be confirmed as the first Hispanic justice and third woman to take a seat on the Supreme Court? Seventy-two percent of respondents said "yes."

Today in history: In 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Were you alive 40 years ago when this historic event occurred? Click here to share your thoughts.

Birthdays: Actress Billi Bruno, 13. Dancer Julianne Hough, 21. Actor Percy Daggs III, 27. Musician Mike Kennerty (The All-American Rejects), 29. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, 29. Singer Elliott Yamin, 31. Actor Simon Rex, 35. Hockey player Peter Forsberg, 36. Singer Vitamin C, 40. Actor Josh Holloway, 40. Musician Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam), 43. Singer Chris Cornell, 45. Actor Frank Whaley, 46. Musician Mick McNeil, 51. Musician Paul Cook (The Sex Pistols), 53. Musician Carlos Santana, 62. Former Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), 64. Singer Kim Carnes, 64. Musician John Lodge (The Moody Blues), 66. Actress Diana Rigg, 71. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), 73.

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--Jade Walker is the overnight editor of Yahoo! News. News doesn't stop when the lights go out, and neither does Jade.

**Yahoo! News bloggers compile the best news content from our providers and scour the Web for the most interesting news stories so you don't have to.