Tanzania Ship Sinks, Nearly 200 Bodies Recovered

Passengers on the aging, crowded boat headed for one of Tanzania's top tourist destinations said they realized something was wrong when the overnight ferry began to list from side to side early Saturday morning.

Then water rushed through and killed the engines, sending the M.V. Spice Islanders upside down and pitching hundreds of people into the deep sea. A witness counted nearly 200 bodies, and the president of the nearby island of Zanzibar said more than 570 people were rescued, suggesting the boat was overloaded. Some survivors said the boat's capacity was about 600.

Those lucky enough to find something to cling to floated in the dark waters for at least three hours until the strong currents began to wash them up on the white sandy shores of Zanzibar. As the sun rose, news of the tragedy had already spread throughout the community and thousands of people were on the beach, desperately hoping their family members would be the next to emerge from the waves. One man — too upset to give his name — screamed over and over again the names of 25 missing family members, including his sisters, wife and grandsons.

Throughout the day, police waded through the clear waters to shore, carrying bodies on stretchers, wrapped in brightly colored cloth and blankets. The smallest bundles — the children — they carried in their arms. Tourists on the popular island helped survivors and local charities provided blankets and tea.

It's unclear how many people were killed or how many people were on the boat when it capsized.

A reporter for ITV, a local television station, said he had seen 189 bodies. The president of Zanzibar, Ali Mohammed Shein, said 572 people had been rescued and declared three days of mourning for the disaster. A survivor, Khamis Mohamed, said it was carrying hundreds more than its official capacity of 600.

Dozens of Tanzanians on the island of Zanzibar who spoke to The Associated Press expressed anger that the boat had been allowed to leave port at all and asserted it was overloaded.

Residents of Stone Town said they had frequently referred to the vessel as "a disaster waiting to happen."

Survivor Abdullah Saied said some passengers had refused to board the boat, saying it was too full, as it left the mainland port of Dar es Salaam for Pemba Island, north of Zanzibar.

At 1 a.m. on Saturday, it sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island. Boats frequently traverse the route, but travel times vary depending on the vessel.

Passengers described the terrifying moment when they realized something had gone wrong. People began to scream as the boat tilted to one side and water rushed in.

"I realized something strange on the movement of the ship. It was like zigzag or dizziness," said 15-year-old Yahya Hussein, who survived by clinging to a plank of wood with three others. "After I noticed that I jumped to the rear side of ship and few minutes later the ship went lopsided."

Hussein said there had been many children aboard the ship. After the ship began to list, water rushed through the main cabin and stopped the engines, said Mwita Massoud, another survivor. People began to jump into the sea.

The green and hilly island of Pemba is often described as one of the best scuba diving destinations in the world. Tanzania is heavily reliant on tourism to support its economy.

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Untold stories of heroism from 9/11

NEW YORK - Before the attacks of 9/11, the Courtlandt Street subway stop was at the foot of the Twin Towers. This was where tens of thousands of New Yorkers got off the train to head into the World Trade Center. Joe Irizarry was the motorman who drove many of them to work.

"I have no desire to come back," Irizarry tells CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Who could blame him? At 8:46 a.m. on the morning of September 11th, 2001, Irizarry had just pulled his train into the station. Seconds later, the first plane hit.

"What gave you the feeling something had gone wrong," Axelrod asks.

"It actually shook my train," Irizarry replies.

Normally, Irizarry's train doors stay open less than 30 seconds. But on that day, he ordered them open for several minutes - to offer refuge to those escaping the toxic dust and debris raining down on lower Manhattan.

"The smoke was coming down so I had no idea what was going on in the streets," Irizarry says. "I just wanted to make sure the people were safe."

Linda DeSilvio was one of those people in the subway that day. "He really kept everybody under control and was in charge," she says. "Joe was, you know, the brick there."

With the buildings minutes from collapse, Irizarry stayed as long as he could, then gunned it out of the station to Continental Avenue - the end of the line.

"I went towards the crew room, and that's when I heard the first tower had fallen," Irizarry says. That's when Irizarry realized what he had been sitting under.

DeSilvio and Irizarry were recently reunited for the first time in a decade.

"I still get welled up when I see you," DeSilvio says.

9/11 is still taking a toll on Irizarry. "I did my job just like, just like the police officers, just like the firemen, just like the EMTs, just like those people in the towers just across the street did."

Irizarry can't do this job anymore. He officially took disability retirement - like an estimated 10,000 other scarred by that day. Irizarry suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

"I got to live. And all those people that perished. Why am I the lucky one," Irizarry says.

"Ten years later you still have no answer to that question, right?"

"God has a reason for everything, but you just have to accept it," Irizarry says.

In New York, everyone has a 9/11 story. But even when the hero lives, it doesn't guarantee a happy ending.

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WN/ISAF: Reporter killed in Afghanistan in case of mistaken identity

Afghan journalists place wreaths for Ahmad Omid Khpalwak during a memorial gathering in Kabul on August 4, 2011

(CNN) -- A reporter was killed by a U.S. service member last July in southern Afghanistan in a case of mistaken identity, according to the results of an investigation by NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

Ahmad Omid Khpalwak -- a free-lancer for the BBC and Pajhwok News Agency in Afghanistan -- was killed during an insurgent attack in the Uruzgan province city of Tarin Kowt on July 28. He was 25 and joined the BBC in May 2008 as a stringer, the network said.

"Mr. Khpalwak was shot by an ISAF member who believed he was an insurgent that posed a threat and was about to detonate a suicide vest improvised explosive device," the NATO-led force said in a statement Thursday. ISAF identified the soldiers at the scene as Americans.

"The investigating officer found that the ISAF member involved in this incident complied with the laws of armed conflict and rules of engagement and acted reasonably under the circumstances."

Peter Horrocks, director BBC Global News, said the death is "a tragedy for his family and friends as well as his colleagues at the BBC."

It "further highlights the great dangers facing journalists who put their lives on the line to provide vital news from around the world," he said. "It is essential that journalists are given the best possible protection whilst reporting in dangerous situations so that the world can hear their stories."

Insurgents staged what ISAF said was a "complex attack" on a number of targets, including the provincial governor's compound and the Radio Television Afghanistan compound. The Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 22 people were killed and 37 people were injured.

Gen. John R. Allen, commander of ISAF, appointed an independent investigating officer to examine the circumstances of the death.

The report said two insurgents gained entry to the RTA compound when they used a car bomb to destroy a gate and a section of the wall.

From inside the building they traded fire with uniformed Afghan forces and shot at U.S. soldiers arriving at the scene. The firing from the insurgents eventually stopped amid escalating force by the Americans.

Afghan leadership told the forces that two suicide bombers were in the RTA building and that they "were not aware of any civilians present," ISAF said.

"Upon U.S. soldiers entering the RTA building, the two suicide bombers detonated their explosives, collapsing the front walls of the building and trapping members of the clearing team under heavy brick debris," ISAF said.

As some soldiers aided the injured, some continued clearing building remains and others "remained in overwatch to provide security."

During the clearing operation, a soldier "identified movement of a young adult male in the building through a large hole in a broken wall."

"The room the man was in was immediately adjacent to the room where one of the suicide bombers had detonated his suicide vest IED, and across the hall from the other suicide vest detonation, just minutes before," ISAF said.

The soldier heard a shot he thought was from the man's "exact location." ISAF said "it is probable that the shot he heard was actually fire by a soldier inside the building during the building clearing."

The soldier "assessed the individual he observed to be enemy and fired a single round which did not strike him. In the stress and urgency of the moment, it is highly probable that soldiers in the courtyard outside the building incorrectly perceived that shot as having been fired by the man in the building."

ISAF said several soldiers thought the man was shooting, and called out warnings.

"A soldier was directed to move up to the broken wall where the man was seen. As the soldier approached he observed a young adult male with a beard with something clinched in one of his fists and reaching for something on his person with his other hand."

The soldier assessed the actions as those of a suicide bomber who was working to detonate an IED that "posed a lethal threat."

The soldier shot and killed the man. They later discovered that the man was Khpalwak. No weapon was found on him.

"It appears that all the rounds perceived as coming from his location were instead fired by U.S. soldiers," ISAF said.

The BBC said the "confusion surrounding the circumstances" intensified "the tragedy felt by the journalist's family and colleagues."

"The BBC recognizes that ISAF has provided clarification that he was killed by a U.S. soldier, ending a period of uncertainty," the network said in a statement. "We will be studying the details of the findings and await receipt of the full report."

SOURCE: CNN

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Yahoo Fires CEO Carol Bartz

| Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO –  Yahoo Inc. fired Carol Bartz as CEO Tuesday after more than 2 1/2 years of financial lethargy that had convinced investors that she wouldn't be able to steer the Internet company to a long-promised turnaround.

To fill the void, Yahoo's board named Tim Morse, its chief financial officer, as interim CEO. Bartz lured Morse away from computer chip maker Altera Corp. two years ago to help her cuts costs. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., said it is looking for a permanent replacement.

The shake-up was initially reported by the All Things D technology blog.

Bartz's austerity campaign has helped boost Yahoo's earnings, but the company didn't increase its revenue under her leadership at a time when the Internet ad market has been growing.

Bartz's inability to snap Yahoo's financial funk, along with recent setbacks in an online search partnership with Microsoft Corp. and an investment in Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group, proved to be her downfall.

Yahoo has now replaced three CEOs in a little over four years. During that time, Yahoo has been losing ground in the Internet ad race to online search leader Google Inc. and Facebook even though its website remains among the world's most popular. Her ouster comes with 16 months left on a four-year contract that she signed in January 2009.

Known for her no-nonsense leadership and sometimes gruff language, Bartz arrived at Yahoo as a respected Silicon Valley executive who had won praise for turning around business software maker Autodesk Inc. But she had no previous experience in Internet advertising, the main way that Yahoo makes money.

That void on her resume immediately raised questions whether she was qualified for the job, and those doubts only escalated as Yahoo's revenue continued to sag.

At first, Bartz blamed bad timing; she started the job during some of the bleakest months of the Great Recession. Later, she would say that she inherited such as mess from her two predecessors, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and former movie studio boss Terry Semel, that it would take time to get Yahoo back on the right track.

At one point, she even compared her challenge to those that faced Steve Jobs when he returned to Apple Inc. as CEO in 1997.

Unlike Jobs, Bartz, 63, never was able to articulate a strategy to win over investors.

"She focused on plugging holes in the ship instead of turning it around," said Gartner Inc. analyst Ray Valdes.

The disappointing performance was reflected in Yahoo's stock price, which closed at $12.91. That's 81 cents, or 7 percent, higher than where Yahoo shares stood when Bartz was hired as CEO. During the same period, Google's stock price has risen by more than $200, or 66 percent.

Bartz never hit any of the price targets that the board set for her when she was hired, a shortfall that meant none of the 5 million stock options that she received upon signing her contract ever vested.

Investors seemed happy to see Bartz go. Yahoo shares gained 81 cents, or more than 6 percent, in extended trading late Tuesday.

Although Bartz's exit as CEO came suddenly, her departure isn't a shock. The pressure to replace her grew earlier this year after Bartz acknowledged Yahoo's search partnership with Microsoft wasn't' producing as much revenue as the companies anticipated. Then, in May, Yahoo stunned investors by disclosing that Alibaba had spun off an online payment service in a move that threatened to diminish the value of Yahoo's investment in the Chinese company.

Alipay in July agreed to a complex settlement that could eventually be worth more than $1 billion to Yahoo, but there were too many uncertainties in the deal to placate shareholders.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock had steadfastly stood behind Bartz whenever she was attacked by investors or analysts. In a Tuesday statement, Bostock thanked Bartz for "her service to Yahoo during a critical time of transition in the company's history" without providing an explanation for why the board decided to replace her.

BGC partners analyst Colin Gillis said Yahoo's board "has got to look in the mirror here."

"Swapping the CEO without swapping the (board) chair doesn't solve your problem," he said. "The person that hired Carol to begin with deserves to share the culpability."

With its stock sagging and its management in limbo, Yahoo could be more vulnerable to a takeover attempt by a private equity group or another opportunistic bidder attracted to what remains one of the Internet's best-known brands. Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, in 2008 only to be rebuffed.

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WN/Gaddafi: I will still defeat rebels

DEFIANT Colonel Gaddafi has claimed he is still in Libya and vowed "never to leave the land of his ancestors". 

The fallen dictator denied rumours he has fled over the border into Niger in his latest delusional rant broadcast on a Syrian TV station.

The tyrant — whose whereabouts are unknown — dismissed a military convoy of former loyalists, which included his security chief, that arrived in Niger this week as "not the first".

But he said it did not mean he was going to follow others out of the country.

And he claimed he can still win back the country and defeat the rebels and NATO.

He said: "The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the 'rats' (rebels) in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries.

"We will defeat NATO...and NATO is rejected by the Libyan people."

He said during the five-minute long call: "We are ready to start the fight in Tripoli and everywhere else, and rise against them."

Referring to his himself in the third person, he added: "All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone.

"They have cooperated with NATO ... Gaddafi won't leave the land of his ancestors."

Rebels are still battling regime loyalists in three Gadhafi strongholds - Bani Walid, Sabha and Sirte.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) has sent envoys to Niger to try to stop "Mad Dog" Gaddafi and his entourage from evading justice.

It is believed they could attempt to leave Libya through Niger on their way to other friendly African states.

Fathi Baja, NTC head of political affairs, said: "We're asking every country not to accept him. We want these people for justice."

Rebel leaders sent a column of extra fighters towards the tribal bastion of Bani Walid, 90 miles south east of Tripoli, overnight in preparations for a showdown with Gaddafi loyalists.

Gaddafi is himself suspected of hiding out in the city — he has not been traced since rebels stormed his Tripoli compound two weeks ago.

Those inside Bani Walid have been given an ultimatum to surrender by tomorrow or face a fierce battle.

NTC unit commander Jamal Gourji compared Gaddafi's situation with that of hanged Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after his regime fell.

He said: "We will move into Bani Walid slowly. There was a message in Bani Walid from Gaddafi this evening.

"He was rallying his troops and calling on people to fight. He is hiding in a hole in the ground, like Iraq."

Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam are wanted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said any country he tried to enter should give him up for trial.

It came as home videos found in Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in the capital showed a more 'tender side' of the tyrant.

The films show him in happier times playing with one of his granddaughters.

In one soppy moment, he asks her repeatedly: "Do you not love me?"

Libya's interim health minister has issued the first proper estimate for the number of casualties created by the six-month civil war, with at least 30,000 people killed and 50,000 injured.

Source: Scottish Sun

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Cuban defense minister dies of heart attack

Cuban defense minister dies of heart attack, state media reports

Havana (CNN) -- Cuba's defense minister died suddenly Saturday from a heart attack, the Caribbean nation's state news service reported.

Julio Casas Regueiro, 75, became head of Cuba's armed forces in February 2008. A longtime revolutionary, he fought alongside Fidel and Raul Castro in the guerrilla war that brought the two brothers to power in January 1959.

Raul Castro, 80, had served as head of the Revolutionary Armed Forces until 2008, when he permanently assumed the presidency previously held by his ailing older brother, Fidel. The younger Castro had been acting president since 2006, when his brother nearly died from an intestinal condition.

Casas Regueiro died at 1:20 p.m. in Havana, the nation's capital, state-run Prensa Latina reported. His death was announced on Cuban government TV.

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Former NHL Player Wade Belak Hanged Himself, Source Says | Associated Press

 

TORONTO –  Former NHL player Wade Belak hanged himself, according to a person familiar with the case.

Belak, an enforcer who had played with five NHL teams before retiring in March, was found dead Wednesday in Toronto. He was 35.

The person familiar with Belak's death said he hanged himself at a downtown luxury hotel and condo building. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because details of the investigation were confidential.

"At this point it's non-suspicious," Toronto police spokesman Tony Vella said Thursday. "We will not provide any further information on a non-suspicious case."

Belak is the third NHL enforcer found dead since May.

The body of 27-year-old Rick Rypien of the Winnipeg Jets was discovered earlier this month at his home in Alberta after a police official said a call was answered for a "sudden and non-suspicious" death. Former New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died in May at 28 due to an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone.

"It's not only about the deaths, it's the deaths that surround similar type players," Craig Button, the general manager of the Calgary Flames when Belak played there early in his career, told The Canadian Press. "It's not just getting hit in the head, it's everything that goes with that (enforcer) role. I think that people are paying very, very serious attention to concussions and blows to the head and the role of the enforcer.

"I don't think anybody can stop until we really understand the impact it has not only physically, but emotionally as well."

Belak was scheduled to work as a sideline reporter on Nashville television broadcasts this season. The 6-foot-5, 233-pound forward played for Colorado, Calgary, Toronto, Florida and finished his career with Nashville, playing in 549 career NHL games with eight goals, 25 assists and 1,263 penalty minutes.

He fought 136 times during his 14-year NHL career, according to hockeyfights.com.

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