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New York (CNN) -- A Berlin-bound United Airlines flight returned Saturday night to Newark Liberty International Airport after a problem developed in the left engine, officials said.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames spewing from engine right after the plane took off.

A tire blew during takeoff and flew into an engine, FBI spokeswoman Barbara Woodruff said. The Federal Aviation Administration said it could not confirm that.

Flight 96, with 173 passengers and crew, circled the airport and burned fuel before landing at 8:05 p.m., according to the FAA. United described it as a "mechanical issue."

The crew of the Boeing 757 reported a problem after it left New Jersey for Berlin, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. The engine was operating properly before it landed, she told CNN.

Eyewitness Keisha Thomas, who was traveling on the New Jersey Turnpike, said she witnessed fireballs near a wing shortly after the plane took off.

Thomas heard a loud sound, describing it as "pow, pow, pow."

Djenaba Johnson-Jones, who lives across the river from the airport, said she heard an unusual noise and saw fire, but not smoke, coming from the aircraft's left engine.

Eyewitness Dennis Ostolaza said he heard a "propeller sound" akin to a military helicopter as the plane gained altitude after takeoff, with "black smoke and fire spitting out of the engine."

The flight left the gate at 5:53 p.m.; witnesses reported seeing the engine flames shortly before 6:30 p.m.

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London (CNN) -- Julian Assange demanded that the United States drop its "witch hunt" against WikiLeaks on Sunday as he made his first public appearance after months effectively confined to the Embassy of Ecuador in London.

"As WikiLeaks stands under threat, so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies," the founder of website said to cheers from his supporters outside the embassy.

"The U.S. war on whistleblowers must end," Assange said, calling for the freedom of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier suspected of giving hundreds of thousands of pages of secret American government documents to Assange for publication on WikiLeaks.

Assange also referred to The New York Times, the Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab and the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot in his 10-minute appearance.

The founder of WikiLeaks spoke from a balcony at the Embassy of Ecuador in London, where he has been holed up since June.
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His lawyer Baltasar Garzon called earlier for him to be given safe passage to Ecuador from Britain.

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A second United flight departing New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport in the last two days has had to make an emergency landing.
The Federal Aviation Administration says United Flight 409 bound for Seattle returned to the airport at about 9:15 a.m. Sunday after reports of possible smoke in the cabin and cockpit.
A United spokesman says the flight crew noticed an unusual smell in the cockpit. No injuries were reported.
The emergency was the second in as many days. On Saturday night, a United flight to Germany had to return to the airport after experiencing engine problems.On Sunday, the FAA said one of the engines on the Berlin-bound flight apparently overheated on takeoff. An agency spokeswoman says that contrary to published reports, the aircraft didn't blow a tire during takeoff

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Diana Nyad is making good progress in her latest attempt to swim to Florida from Cuba, her crew said Sunday.

"There's no stopping her now," the crew said on her blog.

After jumping into the waters off Havana on Saturday afternoon -- a day earlier than originally planned -- Nyad made it 21.7 statute miles in 18 hours, putting in 50 strokes a minute, her blog reported.

The full distance to Key West, Florida, is 103 miles, a trip expected to take Nyad 60 hours if the 62-year-old is successful in her attempt -- her fourth.

After a rough first night," Nyad "is comfortable, confident, and still consistently stroking," a message on her official Twitter feed said.She was stung by jellyfish on her lips, forehead, hands, and neck. Some stings were from box jellyfish, her blog said.
"Cheered by her crew as she swam toward the side of her escort boat, Voyager, for a feed this morning, she gave the thumbs up" and asked how the crew was doing, according to her blog. "Today is more like swimiming," Nyad said in a quote on the blog. "I don't know what you would call last night -- probably surviving."

She is amazing

Swimmer Nyad steady in Cuba-Fla. record attempt