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A woman from Birmingham (UK) says she feels lucky to be alive after arriving home safely from the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy. Amelia Leon, 22, was in her cabin with her boyfriend, a crew member, when the liner struck the rocks on Friday. [snip] Ms Leon, a professional singer, said she felt very emotional following the shock of what she had experienced, and knowing people are still missing. She said: "The TV went on to the floor and completely smashed and the lights went out. 'This is horrible' "Obviously lots of people were pushing and shoving but...

The Italian coast guard orders in vain the captain of the capsized Italian cruise ship to return on board to oversee the evacuation, according to a recording of the conversation released by a leading Italian newspaper...

GIGLIO, Italy (WLS) - Audio recording of the conversation between Capt. Francesco Schettino and Port Authority officials after the doomed Italian luxury cruise liner Costa Condcordia struck rocks Friday was released Tuesday morning. At least 11 people were killed in the aftermath, according to Italian media, and dozens more are still missing. The following is a translation of the recording, which was posted on the news website Corriere della Sera: Captain Schettino: It's Capt. Schettino. Port Authority: Schettino, listen to me, there are people trapped onboard, now you go back, you will go with your rescue boat under the stern...

A 500-year-old Portuguese gun has been found on an NT beach, and may suggest Europeans arrived earlier than thought. A DARWIN BOY may help re-write Australia's history after unearthing what he believes is a 500-year-old Portuguese swivel gun on a Northern Territory beach. Portugal occupied Timor from 1515 until 1975, although it is hotly debated whether Portuguese explorers made it to Australia, about 700km away. Christopher Doukas made the discovery at Dundee Beach, about two hours' drive from Darwin. He found the gun when tides dipped to exceptional lows in January 2010, and he could walk out a long way...

They that go down to sea in ships, that do business in great waters: These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 107th Psalm

The wreck of a ship thought to have taken part in a failed Mongol invasion of Japan has been found off the Japanese coast. A team of researchers uncovered a 12-metre (36ft) section of keel buried in deep sand off Nagasaki prefecture. They said it was the first time such a large piece of hull had been recovered from the Mongol invasion fleets. The 13th Century attacks on Japan were a rare setback for the Mongols at the height of their powers. Experts expressed surprise that the wreck was so well preserved after so many centuries on the seabed. The...

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) disagrees with the Navy's decision to name a cargo ship under construction in San Diego for California farm labor leader Cesar Chavez. The decision, announced Tuesday, "appear[s] to be more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy's history and tradition," Hunter said in press release....

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads in some polls for the Republican presidential nomination, but he's also lost key backers - including some in Orange County, which was a base camp for his failed 2008 bid. ((snip)) "It was one of the most brain-dead campaigns I've seen," Schroeder said. "I was planning 15 months in advance, but their planning window for events was five days. That meant they didn't focus on California until five days before the primary." ((snip)) Additionally, Schroeder sees the health-care reform Romney championed in Massachusetts as a liability for someone challenging Barack Obama's similar reform on...

April 15, 2011 will mark the 99th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. She left Southampton, destined for New York on April 10, 1912. The iceberg was stuck late on the night of April 14, 1912 and was gone by 2:20 the next morning. Only 706 of the 2,223 souls aboard were saved, 1,517 perished. Even after the passage of nearly a century, controversy still exists about what happened or, more to the point, what should have happened after striking the berg. Likewise, a number of legends (Ismay donning woman's clothing) and myths (NOPOPE) have arisen since that memorable...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Navy says it is forging ahead with its decision to name a warship for the late Rep. John Murtha, despite protests the decorated Vietnam War veteran was disloyal in his 2006 accusation that Marines had murdered Iraqi civilians. Three Facebook sites opposing the Navy's April 2010 decision bristle with thousands of angry postings.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The president of the United States has engaged in oil price speculation. This is unprecedented. It's unheard of, and it isn't healthy. And the Money Honey at CNBC was not happy about it. BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Yesterday afternoon, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, during a meeting with the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. OBAMA: We actually think that we'll be able to ride out the Libya situation and it will stabilize. RUSH: He's talking about the oil price. "We actually think that we'll be able to ride out the Libya situation and [the price of oil] will...

Former sailors, soldiers and Marines are expressing outrage at Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’s decision to name a naval warship after recently deceased Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha. The opposition is largely a function of Murtha’s actions and comments during his final years. Murtha became known as one of the most vocal opponents of the war in Iraq — despite voting in 2002 for the resolution that authorized the use of force against Saddam Hussein. In 2005 he declared the war unwinnable, and pushed a resolution to get the troops out of the country. “The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in...

The U.S. Navy's Name GamePosted by Mark Thompson Sunday January 9, 2011 at 8:30 pm Prospective parents battling over the names of their unborn kids have nothing on the U.S. Navy, which is in the middle of a spat over the wisdom of naming a new ship for the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. In fact, it has kicked off a bigger battle over just who, or what, should be honored with their names on the great gray hulls of the nation's warships. "It comes down to two points," says military historian James Caiella. "Who and what we are as...

When I was young and living in Manhattan, I saw an Off-Off-Broadway play called Slave Ship. It was an experience I'll never forget. Unbeknownst to me, the performance was conducted in total darkness. The audience was subjected for one very long hour to the harrowing sounds of slavery. There were blood-curdling screams, whippings, and more. Given that we were trapped in pitch blackness, the audience was held captive like the slaves, compelled to experience the same terror, helplessness, and despair. This was undoubtedly the intention of the play.

The Russian security service released the crew of the Arctic Sea in Moscow on Sunday. The 11 members of the crew of the hijacked ship were flown from Cape Verde to Russia nearly two weeks ago. The Russian news agency Interfax reports that the men returned to their home town of Archangelsk, where they were met by their families. On Sunday, Russian authorities gave conflicting accounts of whether or not all of the crew would be released. The online portal life.ru reported that only nine members of the crew had been released. Rabbe von Hertzen of the Finnish National Bureau...

Gaza Jewish Flotilla Ship's PR Sinks in Ashdod, Israel(photo) Hamas and Iran are praying that the world will never put on its glasses. By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ---- September 28, 2010 ..... It's no secret that no one is starving in Gaza. Nor is it a secret that Hamas which rules Gaza is not interested in any form of a peace arrangement with Israel. Hamas makes no secret of the fact that her only goal is the complete and total destruction of the State of Israel. It was exactly 5 years ago this month that Israel...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Alert Officer Identifies Wanted Man Workforce Stories When a Behavior Detection Officer (BDO) at Ohio’s Toledo Express Airport was approached by an individual in the public area of the airport, the Officer became suspicious of the individual’s actions and noticed injuries to the man’s hands. The BDO also recognized that the individual matched the description provided by the U.S. Coast Guard of a foreign national who jumped ship in the Port of Toledo. Based on the description, TSA contacted the Lucas County Sheriff, Toledo Port Authority Police, Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation...

Two years ago, the Pacific Sun, a cruise ship out of Australia, hit rough waters, and dozens were injured in the process. The ship’s troubles were serious enough that some wondered how safe we are traveling by sea in general, but for the most part that was the end of it. Until this week. Because this week, the internet came in, as two videos surfaced demonstrating just how bad the Pacific Sun’s situation was – bad enough that mainstream media started taking notice. From Postmedia News, via the Montreal Gazette: In one video, passengers and crew are sent careening violently...

The Navy indicated Monday there would be a several-month delay in awarding a high-profile combat ship contract. The Navy was expected to announce the winner of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract this summer. Instead, it will take several more months to weigh the competitors’ offers. Lockheed Martin, teamed with Wisconsin-based Marinette Marine and Alabama-based Austal USA, a unit of Australian Austal Ltd., are competing for the contract, which is initially worth about $5 billion for 10 shore-hugging combat ships and includes combat systems for five additional ships.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Workers at the World Trade Center site are excavating a 32-foot-long ship hull that apparently was used in the 18th century as part of the fill that extended lower Manhattan into the Hudson River.....