Crippled cruise ship nears San Diego port
SAN DIEGO, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- The crippled Carnival cruise ship Splendor crept closer to the San Diego shore, with officials expecting it to dock in port Thursday morning.
The Splendor, assisted by five tugboats, reached cellphone range Wednesday, allowing some of the 3,299 passengers to call families and friends and relate their accounts of what happened after an engine room fire Monday left the cruise ship dead in the water off Mexico's western coast and its tow back to California, USA Today reported.
"I do see lights ahead, so I'm really happy," passenger Valerie Ojeda told ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday. "I can't wait to get on land."
"It's nothing like anyone expected," passenger David Zambrano, an employee of KUSA-TV, Denver, said in a report filed to the station. "You stand in line for two hours just to get your food because everybody goes to the same place to pick up their food. Then once you get your food, you look for something to do. People are playing cards. People are standing around, just kind of talking. They're getting to socialize."
The fire knocked out power, cutting off basic services such as hot food, air conditioning and, for a time, operable toilets.
On Tuesday, the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived nearby with 60,000 pounds of supplies it ferried to the Splendor by helicopter.
Cruise line officials said an investigation into what cause the fire and why it crippled the ship would begin after the ship docks.
"When the Splendor arrives back in port, there's likely to be considerable media coverage of very unhappy, sometimes angry people whose vacation went awry," says Cruise Week Editor Mike Driscoll told USA Today. "The so-called Spam cruise may sound funny to some outsiders watching TV, but it's not funny to those who were on it."
Report: 'Don't ask' repeal risks minimal
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A U.S. Defense Department survey indicates the ban on gays openly serving in the military poses minimal risk during war, people familiar with the report said.
More than 70 percent of respondents to the survey sent to active-duty and reserve military personnel said the effect of repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy would be positive, mixed or non-existent, sources told The Washington Post in an article published Thursday.
Based on the responses, the report's authors said objections to openly gay military colleagues would drop once troops began living and serving alongside them.
The report is to be presented to President Obama Dec. 1.
"There are challenges here, and we want the time so we can make the process of implementation as smooth as possible," one person told the Post.
The document is divided into two sections, one exploring whether repealing "don't ask, don't tell" would harm unit readiness or morale, and one offering a plan for ending the ban's enforcement.
The report indicated it didn't think a large "coming out" by gays and lesbians in uniform would happen if the ban is repealed, a person who read the draft told the Post.
Among its recommendations, the report urged ending the military ban on sodomy between consenting adults regardless of what happens to "don't ask, don't tell," the source said.
The report also recommended that gay troops should not be considered a special class for equal opportunity or discrimination purposes, the source said. It recommended few changes to policies on military housing and benefits, because the military must abide by the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which does not recognize same-sex marriage.
The draft also said objections by military personnel who don't want to room or shower with openly gay colleagues should be handled on a case-by-basis.
Human smuggling ring busted in Arizona
PHOENIX, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Authorities say they have broken the back of an Arizona smuggling ring responsible for transporting thousands of undocumented migrants into the United States.
The bust is the largest human-smuggling operation ever uncovered by state task-force investigators, and is the result of more than a year-long investigation, The Arizona Republic reported.
Authorities said the operation brought immigrants into Arizona from Mexico and Central and South America. It was dismantled Wednesday when police arrested and booked six men on suspicion of human smuggling, operating a criminal syndicate, fraud, fraudulent schemes and identity theft.
Investigators said the smugglers used a fleet of vans and other vehicles to transport illegal immigrants from the Arizona-Mexico border to locations within Arizona; 62 vehicles were seized in Wednesday's raid.
Investigators only identified one of the suspects Marco Rodriguez-Banks, 29. Authorities said the smuggling operation was moved to the Phoenix area because of extra border security.
"They are highly adaptable, and they change as a result of law-enforcement activities," said Matthew Allen, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona.
"Many of this organization's resources were in the southern part of the state. But when it got too hot for them in southern Arizona, they relocated a lot of their resources to the Phoenix area."
The investigation started over a year ago when a Goodyear police officer conducted a routine patrol check on a U-Haul rental storage lot. He discovered trucks and vans with tinted windows, and what appeared to be reinforced shock absorbers, signs the vehicles were used in smuggling.
Canada will extend stay in Afghanistan
SEOUL, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadian troops will stay in Afghanistan three years longer than planned, but their role will not be combat-related.
Harper, speaking to reporters in Seoul Thursday ahead of the G20 Summit, said Canadian troops would be involved in training missions, the Toronto Sun reported.
"Look, I'm not going to kid you -- down deep, my preference would have been to see a complete end to the military mission, but as we approach that date, the facts on the ground convince me that the Afghan military needs further training."
Canada's combat role is scheduled to end in 2011.
"I don't want to risk the gains that Canadian soldiers have fought for and they have sacrificed for in such significant numbers for by pulling out too early if we can avoid that," Harper said. "If we can continue a smaller mission that involves just training, I think frankly that presents minimal risks to Canada but it helps us ensure that the gains we've made are continuing."
The United States and Britain have pressured Canada to stay in Afghanistan, the report said.
"I know there are others in NATO who would like us to continue the combat mission. I've been very clear, that's not an option Canada will consider," Harper said.
Gitmo prisoner trial site expected soon
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A decision will be made soon about where to try the plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder said.
A New York lawmaker has ruled out Holder's earlier choice of a federal court in New York as the site for the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, and other confessed plotters, and officials said the most likely scenario is a military commission trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where men are being held, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Holder announced a year ago plans to try the accused terrorists in New York near Ground Zero -- site of the destroyed World Trade Center -- but drew a backlash of opposition from New York officials and residents near the federal courthouse, who raised security and financial concerns. In Washington, Republicans and some Democrats toughened their opposition to the plans as well.
After Holder said he expected a decision "soon," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, "The trial should not and will not be in New York."
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., another opponent, said in a statement, "I urge Attorney General Holder not to hold any 9/11 trials in New York or anywhere in the United States. These 9/11 terrorists should be tried before a military commission at Guantanamo."
Russian journalist out of coma
MOSCOW, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A severely beaten Russian journalist has regained consciousness and may be removed from an artificial breathing machine, officials said Thursday.
Oleg Kashin was attacked and severely beaten by unknown assailants near his house in Moscow Saturday, suffering severe head and leg injuries. He was put into an induced coma, RIA Novosti reported.
"He regained consciousness and he can adequately respond to questions, but still cannot speak because he is still breathing through a machine," a hospital spokesperson said.
Kashin, works for the daily newspaper Kommersant.
At least 35 journalists have been killed in Russia since 2000. The International Press Institute said Russia is fifth in its ranking of countries most dangerous to journalists. The top four are Iraq, the Philippines, Colombia and Mexico.
Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, has ordered a probe into the 2008 attack on Russian journalist Mikhail Beketov, the former editor-in-chief of the Khimkinskaya Pravda newspaper, the report said.
He was severely beaten by unidentified attackers and suffered severe brain damage and is now in a wheelchair.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Kashin's attackers would be found and prosecuted.
