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An Australian man has been rescued in the Pacific after surviving for two months on rainwater and raw fish in what has been likened to the film “Cast Away” — but his companion was a dog, not a hand-printed volleyball. Sydney resident Tim Shaddock, a 51-year-old cancer survivor, and his pooch Bella set off from La Paz, Mexico, in April on a catamaran journey to French Polynesia, but their vessel was damaged in a storm several weeks later, Australia’s 9News reported. The pair survived by drinking rainwater and eating raw fish as they waited for a miracle while adrift in...

15 mar The Society of Jesus Adrift. The Indictment of a Great Jesuit “It seems that I am in good Company….” This is how an exultant Antonio Spadaro hailed via Twitter the release of “Confesiones de jesuitas,” the expanded new edition of a book published back in 2003 with the title “31 jesuitas se confiesan,” in which he too now appears together with 37 other confreres, including several of the highest rank, living and dead, from Avery Dulles to Carlo Maria Martini, from Roberto Tucci to Tomás Spidlik, from Jon Sobrino to Robert F. Taft, from Adolfo Nicolás to...

EXCLUSIVE: 'Tortilla, tortilla!' First words of naked Pacific castaway to islanders after he claimed to have spent 14 MONTHS adrift. 'Miracle Man' tells more of his incredible story Jose Salvador Alvarenga had an emotional phone conversation with his mother and brothers today Dr Roner Mendoza, who is treating him, said he has liver problems and edema - a swelling of the legs - which could explain his bloated appearance A new image shows Alvarenga as a young man, beaming at the camera It is worlds apart from the bedraggled and bloated figure he cuts now Skeptics are questioning whether his...

Salvador Alvarenga, who survived for 438 days adrift at sea, is now being sued by his fellow fisherman's family amid accusations that he ate Ezequiel Cordoba's corpse A fisherman who stunned the world by surviving 15 months lost at sea is being sued for $1 million (£650,000) by the family of his dead colleague, who accuse him of eating their relative to ensure his own survival. Salvador Alvarenga, 36, is the only man known to have survived for over a year at sea. And when he set sail from the coast of Mexico in November 2012, he thought he was...

An unsettling mystery has washed up on Japan’s shores. Over the past two months, at least eight wooden boats have been found in the Sea of Japan on or near the coast, carrying a chilling cargo — the decaying bodies of 20 people, Japan’s coast guard told CNN. ll of the bodies were badly decomposed and “partially skeletonized” — two were found without heads — and one boat contained six skulls, the coast guard said. The first boat was found in October, then a series of boats in late November. Coast guard officials are now trying to unravel the riddle...

A Russian container ship carrying hundreds of tons of fuel was drifting without power in rough seas off British Columbia's northern coast Friday, a scenario a nearby First Nation community described as its "worst fear." The Canadian Forces' joint rescue coordination center in Victoria said the Russian carrier Simushir lost power late Thursday night off Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, as it was making its way from Washington state to Russia. Canadian Navy Lt. Paul Penderghast said the ship was drifting nine nautical miles from shore, though he said it was largely maintaining that position. "It...

Majuro (Marshall Islands) (AFP) - An emaciated man whose boat washed up on a remote Pacific atoll this week claims he survived 16 months adrift on the Pacific, floating more than 12,500 kilometres (8,000 miles) from Mexico, a researcher said Friday.

<p>The Coast Guard says it is maintaining communication with a Carnival cruise ship that is adrift off of Mexico after a fire in an engine room.</p> <p>The Coast Guard said in a news release personnel aboard the Carnival Triumph extinguished the fire and no one was injured. The ship is now operating on emergency power about 150 miles off southern Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.</p>

Being able to describe something accurately is the first step to understanding it, then fashioning a course of action. What happened in the House Speaker vote is that, although some opposition to Boehner began to surface, no candidate ran for the position against him. For days Mark Levin has been urging an opponent to run, but nobody did. Therefore, the options were Boehner, Pelosi, or continued votes without a winner. You can't beat somebody with nobody. Many thought Cantor was going to challenge Boehner when Cantor and the other leadership voted against the "cliff deal". They were mistaken. It's possible...

Shocked like most of us, I went looking for the Tea Party sites. They are there, but activity is void. What site do you recommend?

As Alan Keyes wrote the other day, you cannot fight evil with evil. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor: A Choice Between Satan and Beelzebub (FR thread) Brief excerpt: I grieve deeply as I contemplate the fact that millions of Americans are letting themselves be caught in this diabolical snare. As I tried to point out in 2008, the lesser of evils is still evil. No matter how such an election turns out, people content to choose between Satan and Beelzebub have made clear their willingness to let things go to hell. Moreover, the nature of their...

US to sink ghost ship dislodged by Japan tsunami The U.S. Coast Guard plans to use explosives to sink a derelict Japanese ship dislodged by last year's massive tsunami. The shrimping vessel, which has no lights or communications systems, was floating about 195 miles south of Sitka in the Gulf of Alaska on Thursday morning, traveling about 1 mile per hour. The ship holds more than 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel and authorities are concerned it could interfere with the course of other vessels as it drifts through shipping lanes. A Coast Guard cutter was headed out to the ship...

How do you survive 25 days at sea with nothing but the giant icebox you are floating in? By drinking rainwater and eating fish vomited up by seabirds, apparently. That is the amazing tale of two Burmese fishermen who were found floating in shark-infested waters off the far North Coast of Australia in a large cooler box. Ko Ko Oo, 22, and Haung Htaik, 24, were discovered by Australian customs officials floating in the orange-and-white cooler in the Timor Sea, about 60 nautical miles from Thursday Island, northwest of Darwin on the far north central coast of Australia, at the...

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Argentine navy says a cruise ship carrying 122 people is adrift and taking on water in Antarctica but is no danger of sinking. .. 89 passengers .. 33 crew .. the "Ushuaia."

<p>What does Barack Obama truly believe? Does it depend on the day of the week?</p> <p>True, candidates typically tack to the center after contentious primaries. But the "candidate of change" is taking that process to Twilight Zone levels.</p> <p>This week, Obama declared his support for a FISA bill that included just such immunity.</p>

Republican Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the presidential race yesterday left local conservatives wondering where they'll turn in the November general election when no candidate may be a source of inspiration. Most will probably end up backing the Republican nominee even if it is John McCain, the front-runner disdained by some conservatives. But others may not turn out at all. “I feel that strongly,” said 72-year-old Catherine Marino of San Diego. The question about turnout is an important one because enthused Democratic voters are beaming about both their candidates while Republicans have been divided and dispirited. “I think I could get...

Coast Guard tracking abandonded Russian barge adrift near Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 9/20/06 Juneau, Alaska The Coast Guard is monitoring what appears to be an abandoned coal barge approximately 200-feet in length located nearly 60 miles southeast of the Kenai Peninsula. It was initially spotted in May, drifting 250 miles south of the Aleutian chain. There are no markings on the barge to indicate a port or country of origin. The only markings on the barge are "CTP 424," located approximately 20-feet aft on the port and starboard sides, and a Russian class society load line along the waterline. The barge...

Three Mexican fishermen who disappeared in the Pacific Ocean nine months ago have been rescued nearly 8,000 kilometres from their home, saying they survived by eating seagulls, drinking rainwater and reading the Bible. A Taiwanese tuna boat scooped the men out of the water about halfway between Hawaii and Australia on Aug. 9. They had drifted all the way from San Blas, a fishing village about 160 kilometres north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they were last seen in late October or early November, 2005. Fishermen in San Blas, a hamlet of about 8,000 people, are celebrating the men's astonishing...

B.C. woman clung to selfless hero in icy sea until he 'just froze to death' Adrift in the icy Bering Sea, Tom Grissom took hold of the precious life-ring that could have saved him -- and handed it off to save a friend instead. The decision, described by friends as typical of his character and by coast guard officials as heroic, cost Grissom his life Sunday night. The ring that Grissom handed to Amanda Delisle kept her afloat for an hour in the 11 C water after the two were tossed, along with two co-workers, into the frigid waters off...

President George W. Bush is having a bad October -- and so is the stock market. The two are not unrelated. Bush calls it “background noise,” but it’s a lot louder than that. Potential criminal charges in the CIA-leak case, a Supreme Court nomination gone awry, hurricane relief over-spending, and investigations of the Republican leaders of the House and Senate all threaten to derail both the president’s political standing and his policy agenda. Not even the successful Supreme Court confirmation of John Roberts and the strong Iraqi vote to ratify a freedom-and-democracy based constitution have been enough to take the...