LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY “I don’t know where my children
have been buried, or my parents.They
have never been
found. I still can’t believe the tsunami
destroyed my life
and my family in just a few minutes.” Siti Amridar, a 48-year-old Indonesian woman, five years after a tsunami killed 230,000 people Article, this page
Pope bounces back after attack
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI appeared in good shape Saturday as he addressed the faithful two days after a woman knocked him down at the start of Christmas Eve Mass.
Benedict spoke about the plight of persecuted Christians around the world and did not mention the attack in his message to a crowd gathered in a rainy St. Peter’s Square.
On the day Christians commemorate St. Stephen, the church’s first martyr, the pope remembered those who “undergo trials and suffering because of their faith” and urged prayers for them.
The 82-year-old pontiff was processing through St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday when a woman described by Vatican officials as mentally unstable jumped the barricades and pulled him to the ground as she was taken down by guards.
Benedict quickly got up and, though slightly rattled, continued with the Mass.
Magma swelling, eruption possible LEGAZPI, Philippines - Fewer earthquakes have been recorded in the Philippines’ lava-spilling Mayon volcano, but magma continues to build up inside and any lull in activity could be followed by a bigger eruption, scientists said Saturday.
A hazardous eruption remains possible within days, and residents who live near the volcano’s slopes should not be misled into leaving the evacuation centers, where they spent Christmas, and venturing back to their homes, volcanologist Ed Laguerta warned.
The number of quakes decreased from 871 recorded during the 24-hour period ending Friday morning to 406 recorded during the next 24 hours.
Laguerta said instruments showed the volcano remained inflated despite having spilled more than 26 million cubic yards of lava over the past two weeks. That means the lava being released is being replaced by magma coming from beneath the volcano.
3 dead in 2nd
ferry accident
MANILA, Philippines - A passenger ferry sank in the northern Philippines in a second sea disaster in three days. Three bodies were recovered and 22 were missing, the coast guard said today.
Search-and-rescue teams rescued 63 passengers and crew of the MV Baleno-9 and were scouring the seas for others still unaccounted for, the coast guard said in a statement.
It quoted survivors as saying the vessel took in water flowing from the bow ramp and listed before going under while traversing the area of Verde Island passage off Batangas province south of Manila.
On Christmas Eve, a wooden-hulled ferry with 73 people on board collided with a fishing vessel near the mouth of Manila Bay, and 24 people are still missing.
Front Section, Pages 14 on 12/27/2009