Boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter dies at 76
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter never surrendered hope of regaining his freedom, not even after he was convicted of a triple murder, then convicted again and abandoned by many prominent supporters.
For 19 long years, the prizefighter was locked in a prison cell far away from the spotlight and the adulation of the boxing ring. But when he at last won his biggest fight – for exoneration – he betrayed little bitterness. Instead, Carter dedicated much of his remaining life to helping other prisoners and exposing other injustices.
The middleweight title contender, whose murder convictions became an international symbol of racial injustice and inspired a Bob Dylan song as well as a Hollywood film, died Sunday. He was 76.
Pope Francis, huge crowd celebrate Easter
VATICAN CITY – Marking Christianity’s most hopeful day, Pope Francis made an Easter Sunday plea for peace and dialogue in Ukraine and Syria, for an end to terrorist attacks against Christians in Nigeria and for more attention to the hungry and neediest close to home.
More than 150,000 tourists – Romans and pilgrims, young and old – turned out for the Mass that Francis celebrated at an altar set up under a canopy on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica.
So great were their numbers that they overflowed from sprawling St. Peter’s Square, which was bedecked with row after row of potted daffodils, sprays of blue hyacinths and bunches of white roses. Waving flags from the pope’s native Argentina as well as from Brazil, Mexico, Britain, Poland and many other countries, they also filled the broad boulevard leading from the square to the Tiber River.
Francis prayed that God would “enlighten and inspire the initiatives that promote peace in Ukraine, so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence.”
South Koreans discover more bodies from ferry
JINDO, South Korea – Divers continued the grim work of recovering bodies from inside a sunken South Korean ferry Monday, securing a new entryway into the wreck, as a newly released transcript showed the ship was crippled by confusion and indecision well after it began listing. The transcript suggests the chaos may have added to a death toll that could eventually exceed 300.
Many people followed the captain’s initial order to stay below deck, where it is feared they remain trapped. Sixty-four bodies have been recovered, and about 240 people are still missing. The ferry sank with 476 people on board, many of them students from a single high school.
After days of frustration because of strong currents, divers have now found several ways into the submerged ferry. That includes a new entryway, into the dining hall, made early this morning, Koh Myung-seok, a government spokesman, said. With divers increasingly making their way into the ship, there’s been a big jump in the discovery of corpses.
As the divers worked today, relatives huddled around signboards listing descriptions of a half dozen as-yet-unidentified bodies that were pulled out of the vessel overnight.
Ukraine, Russia trade blame for shootout
BYLBASIVKA, Ukraine – Within hours of an Easter morning shootout at a checkpoint manned by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement blaming militant Ukrainian nationalists; Russian state television stations aired pictures of supposed proof of their involvement in the attack that left at least three people dead.
The Ukrainian Security Service, however, said the attack was staged by provocateurs from outside the country. And the presented evidence – particularly a pristine business card said to have been left behind by the attackers – was met with widespread ridicule in Ukraine, where it soon had its own Twitter hashtag.
The armed clash early Sunday near the city of Slovyansk appeared to be the first since an international agreement was reached last week in Geneva to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia activists have seized government buildings in at least 10 cities.
Ukraine’s new leaders and many in the West fear that such clashes could provide a pretext for Russia to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula last month, has tens of thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine. Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, originally said the troops were there for military exercises, but Putin’s spokesman on Saturday acknowledged that some were there because of instability in eastern Ukraine.
Associated Press
