13 drown, 8 missing after skiff getting Navy aid capsizes

Thirteen people drowned and eight are missing after a small skiff packed with more than seven dozen people capsized while getting aid from a U.S. Navy vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. military said Monday.

The skiff, packed with 75 Ethiopians and 10 Somalis, was spotted adrift in the gulf by a South Korean warship, which asked the guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill to provide assistance, according to a statement from the Combined Maritime Forces, which conducts anti-piracy patrols off the east coast of Africa.

The 9,500-ton, 513-foot long Churchill sent an inflatable boat to the aid of the skiff. After determining the skiff was without power, the inflatable towed it out of shipping lanes toward the Somali coast, the statement said.

At about 8:30 am local time Monday, U.S. sailors attempted to distribute fresh supplies to those aboard the skiff. As they did so, the Africans rushed to one side of the vessel, capsizing it, and sending all 85 passengers into the ocean.

Crews from the Churchill and an Australian patrol aircraft were able to rescue 61 of the skiff’s passengers. Thirteen drowned and eight were not found, the statement said.

The Navy was investigating the incident.

CNN

Tapes describe U.S. servicemen killing for sport in Afghanistan

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Tapes obtained by CNN of interrogations of a group of U.S. servicemen charged with unprovoked killings of Afghan civilians describe gruesome scenes of cold-blooded murder.

"So we met this guy by his compound, so Gibbs walked him out, set him in place, was like standing here," says Cpl. Jeremy Morlock, detailing how, on patrol earlier this year and under the command of his sergeant, Calvin R. Gibbs, he and others took an Afghan man from his home and killed him.

"So, he was fully cooperating?" the military investigator asks on the tapes in a May 2010 interview.

"Yeah," Morlock responds.

Investigator: "Was he armed?"

Morlock: "No, not that we were aware of".

Investigator: "So, you pulled him out of his place?"

Morlock: "I don't think he was inside. He was by his little hut area ... and Gibbs sent in a couple of people".

Investigator: "Where did they stand him, next to a wall?"

Morlock: "Yeah, he was kinda next to a wall ... where Gibbs could get behind a wall when the grenade went off. And then he kind of placed me and [Spc. Adam] Winfield off over here so we had a clean line of sight for this guy and, you know, he pulled out one of his grenades, an American grenade, popped it, throws the grenade and tells me and Winfield, 'Alright, wax this guy. Kill this guy, kill this guy'".

Investigator: "Did you see him present any weapons? Was he aggressive toward you at all?"

Morlock: "No, not at all. Nothing, he wasn't a threat".

Morlock is accused of killing three Afghan civilian men -- two by shooting -- between January and May of this year. The third was the killing he described above.

The charging papers from the U.S. military paint a picture of a band of rogue soldiers, smoking hash, bored and plotting and carrying out murders of Afghan civilians for sport.

Gibbs is also accused of having kept fingers and leg bones as souvenirs, according to the documents. A soldier who tried to blow the whistle was beaten and threatened, some soldiers said.

Some of the soldiers took photographs of each other next to the Afghans after they had been shot, CNN has learned.

According to the military documents, some of the soldiers were involved in throwing grenades at civilians.

CNN

Colombian senator ousted for links to FARC

(CNN) -- Colombia's attorney general removed and disqualified Sen. Piedad Cordoba from the Congress for 18 years for having "promoted and collaborated" with the FARC guerrillas, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

Attorney General Alejandro Ordonez Maldonado made the announcement Monday.

Cordoba is a controversial political figure in Colombia.

She heads Colombians for Peace, a group trying to end to the decades-old war between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

Cordoba has had a hand in freeing prisoners held by the FARC, including two soldiers released in March, one of them who was a captive of the rebels for 12 years.

Cordoba has had a hand in the release of at least 19 hostages.

The high-profile releases have earned Cordoba praise and a rumors of being a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Critics say that her ties to the FARC are too close for comfort, however.

Ordonez said that the investigation against Cordoba originated from computers seized in a 2008 operation against a top FARC leader, Raul Reyes. Reyes was killed in a Colombian military raid.

CNN

Google turns 12, gets virtual cake

(CNN) -- They grow up so fast.

Google celebrated its 12 years Monday with a birthday cake doodle created by Wayne Thiebaud, an American artist famous for his paintings of cakes and pastries.

"Our thanks to Wayne Thiebaud for helping us celebrate our 12th bday with a lovely doodle!" Google tweeted.

It's not clear why Google chooses to celebrate its birthday on September 27 instead of other noteworthy days in its history. Google filed for incorporation in California on September 4, 1998. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin set up in a Silicon Valley garage and hired their first employee, fellow Stanford grad Craig Silverstein, on September 21 of that year.

Since then, Google has grown rapidly from a search engine into a tech giant that offers a variety of web-based services, from e-mail to calendars to internet phone calling to TV. An increasing number of smartphones run its popular Android operating system.

Google embarks on its last year as a pre-teen by having recently introduced Google Instant, which offers suggested results to users as they type.

CNN

Cuba to release 3 more political prisoners, Catholic Church says

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuba will soon release three more political prisoners, bringing to 39 the number of jailed dissidents the Communist government has set free since this summer, the Roman Catholic Church said Monday.

The Cuban government has agreed to release 52 political prisoners by year's end on the condition they go to Spain, which has agreed to take them. International pressure to free them grew when one prisoner died earlier this year after an 84-day hunger strike.

The latest prisoners to be released were identified as Horacio Julio Pina Borrego, Fidel Suarez Cruz and Alfredo Felipe Fuentes.

They are part of the biggest release of political prisoners in more than a decade. The Spanish government and the Catholic Church brokered the deal with Cuban President Raul Castro in July.

The released dissidents represent roughly one-third of known political prisoners in Cuba. All 52 were sentenced in 2003 as part of a crackdown on government opponents.

CNN

'Titanic' star Gloria Stuart dead at 100

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Hollywood actress Gloria Stuart, who earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the elder version of Kate Winslet's character Rose in "Titanic," has died.

She was 100.

Her daughter, writer Sylvia Thompson, confirmed Stuart's death Monday to the Los Angeles Times.

Thompson said Stuart had been diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago.

The actress was 87 when she was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar for her work in the epic shipboard romance "Titanic".

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized her 100th birthday last July with a program featuring film clips and an onstage conversation between Stuart and her longtime friend, film historian Leonard Maltin.

Born July 4, 1910, in Santa Monica, Calif., Stuart is best known for her roles in "The Old Dark House," "The Invisible Man," "Gold Diggers of 1935," "Air Mail," "The Prisoner of Shark Island," "Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm".

Stuart was the oldest performer to have been nominated for an Academy Award.

UPI

Armed with satire, German group challenges neo-Nazis

(CNN) -- Clad all in black and wearing red armbands and banners emblazoned with an apple, members chant, "What gives power to the youth? Apple juice! Apple juice!"

That's a scene you're likely to encounter if you run into the Apple Front, a provocative group that uses satire to challenge far-right extremists in Germany.

The appearance of the members of the satirical political group -- it argues for maintaining the purity of the German fruit crop -- has an unsettling effect, to say the least.

People usually react with shock when they come across Apple Front for the first time, says Tom Rodig, a 22-year-old student who helps organize the group's demonstrations.

But once they realize it's an apple -- rather than a symbol of hate -- that's at the center of the group's iconography, then they understand the parody, he said.

"They see it very fast. This is an effect we want to have -- the shocking moment and then [the realization] that it's just a joke," he told CNN.

He says Apple Front, short for the Front of German Apples, is all about emphasizing the absurd -- it's against "infiltration of the German fruit crop" by alien species and wants to expel tropical fruits to make sure German children remember the value of a "good German apple".

The group, which Rodig says resembles a political theater group more than anything else, demonstrates alongside radicals and neo-Nazis at marches and rallies across Germany -- to make fun of the radicals.

CNN

Hamas political leader vows to continue fight against Israelis

Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- The political leader of Hamas said in an interview Monday that the Islamist group will continue to fight what he called Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, declaring the group's resistance "a legitimate and just cause, and therefore we will win no matter what".

Khaled Meshaal's comments on CNN International's "Prism" come amid a turning point in recently renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. New construction began at settlement sites in the disputed West Bank territory Monday, just hours after the expiration of a 10-month Israeli government moratorium on building.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas publicly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the moratorium "for three or four months while there are negotiations under way".

Hamas, a rival to Abbas' Fatah Party, is not participating in the talks, and Meshaal dismissed the negotiations as another publicity move by an American president.

CNN

FBI agents cheated on exam using answer sheets - report

FBI agents cheated on an internal exam by conferring, using crib sheets, and finding answers on computers, a Department of Justice probe has found.

Staff were required to take a test on their knowledge of new unified guidelines on domestic investigations.

Suspicions were raised when many passed the 90-minute exam in just 20 minutes.

The authors of the report said "a significant number of FBI employees engaged in some form of improper conduct or cheating".

After the controversial guidelines were introduced, staff were required to take 16.5 hours of classroom tuition and then take a 51-question computerised exam that was expected to take most people between 90 minutes and two hours.

They were allowed access to the guidelines while taking the test, which was mostly sat between May 2009 and January 2010.

The Office of the Inspector General was called in to investigate after 200 workers passed the test in under 20 minutes.

After interviewing staff in a number of field offices, investigators found people taking the exam had conferred, and that direct cheating had been employed.

BBC News

Segway company owner dies in apparent Segway accident

(CNN) -- The owner of the Segway company has died, apparently in an accident involving one of his upright two-wheeled vehicles, police in England said Monday.

The body of James Heselden, 62, was pulled from the River Wharfe in northern England on Sunday, police said.

A Segway-type vehicle was recovered from the river, police said.

The incident is not thought to be suspicious, police added.

Heselden's family said in a statement that "there is absolutely nothing to suggest it was anything other than a tragic accident.

CNN

Unilever pays $3.7bn for Alberto Culver

(FT) -- Unilever is to buy Alberto Culver, the US-based consumer goods company, for $3.7bn (£2.3bn) in a deal that will bring brands such as TRESemmé and VO5 into the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate's stable of haircare and skincare products.

"We are delighted to be acquiring Alberto Culver," Paul Polman, Unilever chief executive, said on Monday.

"Their people have done an excellent job of building an impressive range of brands such as TRESemmé, VO5, Nexxus, St. Ives and Simple. These will complement Unilever's existing portfolio of iconic brands like Dove, Clear and Sunsilk in hair care and Pond's and Vaseline in skincare, and will help build on our strong global positions in both the hair care and skin care categories".

Shares in Unilever rose 0.3 per cent or 6p to £17.99p in early London trading on Monday.

For the 12 months to June, Alberto Culver made revenues of $1.6bn (£1.1bn) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of more than $250m (£158m). The all-cash deal includes $150m of Alberto Culver's debt.

Alberto Culver group employs 2,700 people and has operations in nine countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Mexico and South Africa.

CNN

Lindsay Lohan chooses rehab, source says

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan has decided to check herself into a substance abuse rehab program in the next few days, a source close to the actress said Sunday.

Lohan's decision came two days after a Los Angeles judge ordered her to jail without bail in the wake of a failed drug test. Another judge allowed her to post a bond Friday evening.

It was not immediately clear which rehab program Lohan would enter, said the source, who asked not to be identified because the source was not authorized by the actress to release the information.

Lohan spent 23 days in a court-ordered rehab program at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center last month, following 13 days in a Los Angeles County jail.

"Substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away over night," Lohan wrote in a September 17 Twitter message. "I am working hard to overcome it and am taking positive steps".

CNN

Montgomerie denies dismissing Woods

(CNN) -- Europe's Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has dismissed media reports quoting him as saying he would not have picked Tiger Woods had he been in charge of selecting the U.S. team, as the two sides arrived in Wales for this week's showpiece at Celtic Manor.

Woods' inclusion as a "wildcard" pick in the U.S. team was the subject of much speculation, as the world number one has struggled all season following much-publicized problems in his private life.

Speaking at a joint press conference with U.S. captain Corey Pavin at Cardiff Airport Monday, Montgomerie was effusive in his praise for 14-time major winner Woods.

"I've always said Tiger is the best player in the world and in my opinion, the best player to ever play the game. Of course he'd be in my team," the Scot said.

"It is great for the Ryder Cup that he is here. We welcome him to Wales with open arms".

Wales is hosting the Ryder Cup for the first time in the history of the competition between Europe and the United States.

CNN

Pope voices trust in Vatican Bank head after probe

Rome, Italy (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI personally told the director of the Vatican Bank that he trusted him and appreciates the work he is doing, the Vatican said Monday, after Italian authorities launched a money-laundering investigation into the bank.

Ettore Tedeschi, the bank head, was among the faithful meeting Benedict Sunday after the pope's weekly Angelus address.

Tedeschi kissed the pope's hand and gave him a copy of his book "Money and Paradise," and they exchanged a few words, the Vatican said.

Italian prosecutors last week froze Vatican Bank transactions for the first time ever, after the bank failed to provide all the information required by anti-money laundering rules.

Tedeschi told CNN last week he was incredulous and "humiliated" when he learned Italian investigators were looking into money-laundering allegations against the bank.

He said the probe was the result of a "misunderstanding".

CNN

Seventeen would-be-candidates plan to run for president in Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and sixteen other people may run for the presidency in Belarus, the Belarusian Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Monday.

The Belarusian parliament has set presidential elections for December 19. On Monday, the CEC registered the would-be candidates' action groups.

The action groups are responsible for collecting the 100,000 signatures necessary for registration as a full-fledged candidate.

The former Belarusian deputy foreign minister Andrey Sannikov, opposition leader Aleksey Mikhalevich, economist Yaroslav Romanchuk, and the deputy head of the Green Party, Yury Glushakov, are among the would-be candidates.

The CEC refused to register the action groups of two applicants.

Earlier Lukashenko expressed confidence that neither the Kremlin, nor the West would exert pressure on Belarus during the forthcoming polls.

RIA Novosti