Seattle man accused of sinking his own yacht

(CNN) -- A Seattle man has been charged with insurance fraud for allegedly sinking his own yacht because of "financial pressure and frustration with the maintenance" of the vessel, authorities said.

The Jubilee sank in Puget Sound Bay last year.

On March 22, 2008, Brian Lewis, 50, scuttled the Jubilee in the Puget Sound Bay, then rowed a borrowed dinghy back to shore, according to court documents filed in February by prosecutors in King County, Washington.

Later that day, Lewis boarded a flight to take him to his job in Kodiak, Alaska, as a petty officer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to court documents.

Three days later, Lewis filled an insurance claim with USAA Insurance reporting the Jubilee sank accidentally "due to unknown causes."

However, due to environmental concerns, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources salvaged the vessel at a cost to the state of $2,866.

An inspection found a hole was drilled into the bottom of the Jubilee, and that two main engine sea strainers appeared to have been broken with a hammer.

"The vessel appeared to have been deliberately sunk," authorities said in their probable cause affidavit.

Confronted by investigators, Lewis admitted he intentionally sunk his vessel, saying the financial strain "caused him extreme anxiety and frustration."

Lewis told investigators "the engine trouble he experienced caused him to lose his temper. In his rage, he smashed the sea strainers with a hammer and drilled the hole to sink the vessel," the affidavit said.

"[He] wanted to clarify that his motive for sinking the vessel was anger and frustration, not greed," it added.

Prior to its sinking, the Jubilee had been listed for sale with Mahina Yachts for $28,500.

Jack Bateman, a broker with Mahina, remembers the Jubilee as a "beautiful" 1967 Chris Craft Cavalier. He said the Mahina has only seen this type of case one other time in its 30 years of operation.

"This is a very rare, not common occurrence" he says. Bateman added that Mahina has yet to see any real distress sales due to the bad economy.

The King County Prosecutor's Office has charged Lewis with making a fraudulent insurance claim.

Lewis filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2004. Messages left for him were not returned.
(cnn.com)

Eurostar returns to full service

Eurostar had to delay the launch of a direct Ashford to Brussels service

Eurostar is due to restart a full service through the Channel Tunnel for the first time since a fire last year.

Work to repair fire damage cost over £60m and was completed on 10 February. Eurotunnel shuttle and freight trains have already returned to full capacity.

Eurostar said it had taken longer to return to full service because of the need to implement a new timetable.

A new direct service from Ashford to Brussels, delayed from December because of September's fire, will now start.

The high-speed trains between London and Paris and Brussels will also run through the tunnel at 100% capacity again, with a maximum of four per hour.

See layout of Channel Tunnel

A maximum of six freight trains, which run between Folkestone and Calais, can also run each hour.

The fire on 11 September broke out in a lorry on a freight train seven miles from France and took 16 hours to extinguish.

A total of 32 people on board had to be led to safety, with 14 suffering minor injuries.

A section of the tunnel known as Interval 6 was damaged, causing all services to stop for two days before one of the two tunnels was reopened.

The Channel Tunnel has suffered several incidents since it opened to traffic in 1994, although only one - a fire in 1996 - caused major injuries.

That fire caused £200m worth of damage and burned for more than five hours, wrecking the concrete lining and facilities over about half a mile of tunnel.

In August 2006, 34 people had to be led to safety after a fire broke out on a lorry being carried on a freight train.

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(news.bbc.co.uk)

Boy, 11, accused of killing father's pregnant girlfriend

An 11-year-old boy is facing adult charges in the shooting death of his father's pregnant girlfriend, authorities said Saturday.

Police say Kenzie Marie Houk's daughter found her shot to death in her bed on Friday.

Police say the boy shot Kenzie Marie Houk, who was eight months pregnant, once at point-blank range in her farmhouse in western Pennsylvania.

The boy, whose name was withheld by CNN because he is a juvenile, was charged with one count each of criminal homicide and homicide of an unborn child in the death of Houk, 26, Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo told CNN.

Houk's 4-year-old daughter found her in her bed Friday, according to police. The child alerted landscapers working near the home, who then called authorities. Watch a community in shock »

"This is something that you wouldn't even think of in your worst nightmare, that you'd have to charge an 11-year-old with homicide," Bongivengo said, according to CNN affiliate WTAE. "It's heinous, the whole situation."

Under Pennsylvania law, anyone over the age of 10 accused of murder or homicide is charged as an adult. If convicted, the boy faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, Bongivengo said.

Authorities said the boy is the son of the victim's live-in boyfriend at the home in Wampum, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

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"At this point, we don't believe it's accidental," Bongivengo said.

The weapon was a youth model 20-gauge shotgun, designed for use by children, that belonged to the boy, according to investigators.

Bongivengo told reporters the household has no history of child abuse, but that an investigation is ongoing.

Calls to the boy's public defender, Dennis Elisco, went unanswered Saturday.
(cnn.com)

Clinton sets framework for U.S.-Asia relations

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrapped up a 20,000-mile, four-nation trip to Asia -- her first in the new post -- emphasizing that the United States is actively engaged with the region.

U.S. Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton meets Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in Beijing.

Clinton traveled to Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia to discuss a range of issues, including solving the global economic crisis, the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation and reversing the global warming trend. She returned to Washington on Sunday.

Clinton broached the issue of human rights with Chinese leaders on Saturday but emphasized that the global financial slump and other international crises were more pressing and immediate priorities.

The United States will continue to press China on issues such as Tibet, Taiwan and human rights, she told reporters.

"Successive administrations and Chinese governments have been poised back and forth on these issues, and we have to continue to press them. But our pressing on those issues can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis, and the security crisis," she told reporters during an earlier stop in Seoul, South Korea. Watch a review of Clinton's Asia visit »

"We have to have a dialogue that leads to an understanding and cooperation on each of those."

China was the last stop on her journey and the most sensitive.

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Human rights, a traditional topic in discussions between the two countries, was brought up in a meeting between Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who agreed to engage in a continuous discussion on the issue.

"Although differences exist, China is willing to conduct the dialogues with the U.S. to push forward the human rights situation on the premise of mutual respect and noninterference in each other's internal affairs," Yang said.

Clinton also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday and discussed the framework for further high-level and mid-level discussions. "It is essential that the United States and China have a positive, cooperative relationship," Clinton told reporters. Watch Clinton talk to CNN about Asian tour »

Earlier Saturday, Clinton met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing, and the two agreed to create a new strategic and economic dialogue which would consist of a number of issues including the environment. The United States and China are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, accounting for 40 percent of world pollution.

Later that day Clinton visited a clean energy thermal power plant featuring equipment made by U.S.-based General Electric. The plant, which produces half the emission of a typical coal plant, provides heat for a million homes in Beijing as well as for the U.S. Embassy.

On the financial front, both sides recognized economies emphasized the importance of working in cooperation.

China, the world's top holder of U.S. debt, wants to ensure liquidity and security in its dealings with U.S. treasury bonds.

"We did use foreign exchange reserves to buy U.S. treasury bonds. Our principle of using reserves is to ensure security and liquidity," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told reporters.

China-U.S. trade volume rose by 10.5 percent in 2008 to 333.7 billion U.S. dollars, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Throughout the trip, the subject of North Korea and its threatening rhetoric toward South Korea came up.

In Seoul, Clinton did not refrain from harsh words, restating the U.S. position on North Korea.

"North Korea is not going to get a different relationship with the U.S. while insulting and refusing dialogue with the Republic of Korea," she said.

However, she stressed that if North Korea completely end its nuclear program and that work is verified, the nation could receive benefits including aid for its people from the United States and its partners.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, Clinton walked through a neighborhood in which 40 percent of the population is poor. She highlighted community projects sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Clinton also appeared on a popular youth-oriented TV show, and in Beijing she was interviewed by a Chinese blogger and participated in an online interview on climate change.
(cnn.com)

Asia set to boost emergency fund

Asian nations have been hit by the wider slowdown

Asian finance ministers plan to extend an emergency currency fund, hoping to boost their economies and better protect them from the financial crisis.

The new size of the multilateral fund is expected to be $120bn (£83.7bn), up from $80bn proposed in 2008, regional grouping Asean said.

Emergency funds would be made available to enable nations to borrow foreign currency on a short-term basis.

The plan was agreed at a meeting of Asean finance minister in Thailand.

It is hoped final agreement on the fund will be reached in May, said ministers.

Last year, the ten members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) promised to make bilateral currency swap arrangements available to each other under the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative.

Japan, China and South Korea also joined the scheme.

"The Chiang Mai is important because it gives a signal to everybody in Asia and outside Asia that if there was a big crisis, there is financing available," said Jean Pierre Verbiest, Asian Development Bank country director for Thailand.

Asian nations have typically relied heavily on exports and have as a result been hard hit by the global slowdown.

Japan, China and South Korea are set to contribute 80% of the capital to the fund.
(news.bbc.co.uk)

Slumdog Millionaire' has seven Oscars

CNN) -- "Slumdog Millionaire," the little film about a poverty-raised teaboy who goes on a game show as a way to find his lost love, leads all films at the Oscars with seven Oscars at the 81st annual Academy Awards.

The late Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for playing the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

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"Millionaire" has won Oscars for director (Danny Boyle), adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), score (A.R. Rahman), song ("Jai Ho," co-written by Rahman), cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), sound mixing and film editing.

Boyle literally jumped up and down as he accepted his award, saying that if he ever won he'd bounce like Tigger from "Winnie-the-Pooh."

Rahman was equally appreciative as he accepted one of his Oscars.

"All my life I've had a choice between hate and love, and I chose love, and now I'm here," said Rahman.

The movie, which has dominated this awards season and received 10 Oscar nominations, is considered the favorite to win best picture. The only film with more nominations, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," has three Oscars -- for art direction, makeup and visual effects. "Button" earned 13 nominations. List of winners, nominees

Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

His parents and sister accepted the award for the actor, who died in January 2008.

"This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here -- his peers -- within an industry he truly loved," said Ledger's father, Kim.

Ledger is only the second actor to win a posthumous actor. Peter Finch won best actor for 1976's "Network" two months after he died in early 1977.

Penelope Cruz won the first Oscar of the night, a best supporting actress honor for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Gallery: See what the stars are wearing »

"Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one," she said, before paying tribute to writer-director Woody Allen, who oversaw "Vicky Cristina," and writer-director Pedro Almodovar, who gave her some of her best roles. She then thanked "everyone who has helped me from the beginning."

Dustin Lance Black, who won original screenplay for "Milk," gave an impassioned speech in favor of gay rights.

"If Harvey [Milk, the subject of the film] had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told they are less than by the churches, by the government, by their families," Black said, "that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours."

"Milk" concerns Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to major public office. The film has also been in the spotlight because of Proposition 8, the California law against gay marriage that was the subject of a contentious campaign last year.

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Two of the best-reviewed films of the year -- "WALL-E" and "Man on Wire" -- won Oscars. "WALL-E" won best animated feature, and "Man on Wire" won best documentary feature.

Philippe Petit, the star of "Man on Wire," about Petit's tightrope crossing between the World Trade Center towers in 1974, concluded his speech by balancing the Oscar upside-down on his chin.

Jerry Lewis received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

True to the producers' promise to give the Academy Awards more of a "party" tone, Hugh Jackman led off the show with cracks about downsizing -- "Next year," said the "Australia" star, "I'll be starring in a movie called 'New Zealand' " -- then segued into a song-and-dance number he said he assembled in his garage.

Performing songs about each best picture nominee in various musical styles, with "homemade" backgrounds behind him, at one point he reached into the audience and physically lifted Anne Hathaway on stage to play Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon." Blog: Behind the scenes

Then the gregarious host paid tribute to various celebrities in the audience as if pointing out VIPs in a nightclub.

Jackman also did a musical number with Beyoncé, the two performing a medley of songs from Hollywood's musical golden era, as well as more recent films such as "Grease," "Moulin Rouge" and "Mamma Mia."

At another point in the show, Ben Stiller parodied Joaquin Phoenix's recent "Late Show with David Letterman" appearance, wearing a thick beard and lazily chewing gum. He cracked up his co-presenter, Natalie Portman, by wandering around the stage.

Some of the nominees have said they're surprised to even be at the Oscars. Melissa Leo, nominated for best actress for "Frozen River," said nothing has compared with the Oscar experience.

"[The film] has given me an extraordinary year," she told CNN. "But to be here tonight ... it's so humongous."

Oscar outfits were generally elegant and classic, with most men wearing tuxedos (including the young members of the "Slumdog" cast) and women in beautiful, sometimes muted, gowns. Viola Davis ("Doubt") wore gold; Freida Pinto ("Slumdog Millionaire") opted for a rich blue. Anne Hathaway wore a glittery -- and snug -- Armani mermaid gown.

(CNN.COM)