Deadly end for fugitive who stabbed detective with eyeglasses

Updated at 1:33 p.m. ET

GRAPEVINE, Texas A Florida prisoner who escaped after stabbing a detective with his eyeglasses was shot and killed by Texas law enforcement officers early Saturday after police responded to a report of a home burglary, authorities said.

Alberto Morales was shot shortly after midnight when officers, with assistance from a police helicopter, spotted him in a wooded area near a lake in North Texas, Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling said. Two hours earlier, officers responded to a report that jewelry and men's clothing had been stolen during a break-in at a home near where Morales was found.

Eberling said at a Saturday news conference that officers instructed Morales to lay on the ground and show his hands, but he rushed toward them, at which point they opened fire. He said the fugitive was still wearing part of his prison-issued jumpsuit as well as jogging pants, but Eberling said he couldn't comment on whether the stolen clothing and jewelry was found with Morales.

The residents arrived home around 10:30 p.m. Friday to discover the burglary at their home and called law enforcement officials, Eberling said.




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911 call: Alberto Morales allged stabbing victim



The 42-year-old Morales escaped Monday at a Wal-Mart store parking lot in Grapevine, a community near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Police said he used a sharp piece from his eyeglasses to stab a Miami-Dade detective who was transferring him by car to Nevada, where Morales was to serve a sentence of 30 years to life after being convicted of a sexual assault.

Det. Jaime Pardinas was expected to recover after being treated at a Dallas hospital for deep stab wounds to the neck, shoulder and back and a collapsed lung. It wasn't clear when he would be released.

Pardinas was accompanied by Miami-Dade Detective David Carrero during the transfer. They flew to Houston with Morales and then decided to drive the rest of the way after he became disruptive on the flight. They had stopped near the store while waiting for a third officer who was flying to the Dallas area to join them. Department policy requires three officers to be present for ground transfers of prisoners.

On a recording of a 911 call of the incident released Wednesday, Pardinas can be heard breathing heavily as he tells the operator that he's been stabbed. He described Morales' height, weight and appearance and then added, "He's a schizophrenic."

The escape set off a massive five-day manhunt in North Texas.

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Uncle: Pistorius Is 'Numb With Shock as Well as Grief'












Oscar Pistorius is "numb with shock as well as grief" his uncle told reporters Saturday as the Olympian amputee spent his second night behind bars in a South African jail for the allegedly killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.


"All of us saw at firsthand how close [Steenkamp] had become to Oscar during that time and how happy they were," he said. "They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," said Pistorius' uncle Arnold Pistorius.


The 26-year-old athlete, known as the "blade runner" because of the carbon-fiber blades he runs on, was charged Friday with premeditated murder.


Pistorius' family is "battling to come to terms with Oscar being charged with murder," Arnold Pistorius said, and still believe "there is no substance to the allegation."


Oscar Pistorius is suspected of shooting Steenkamp, 29, four times with a handgun early Thursday morning at his home in a gated community in Pretoria.


PHOTOS: Paralympic Champion Charged with Murder


Prosecutors dismissed the reports that Pistorious mistook her for an intruder.


If convicted, Pistorius could face at least 25 years in jail.


According to South African newspaper Beeld, Steenkamp was killed nearly two hours after police were called to Pistorius' home to respond to reports of an argument at the complex.


Police said they have responded to disputes at the sprinter's residence before, but did not say whether or not Steenkamp was involved.






Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images; Mike Holmes/The Herald/Gallo Images/Getty Images











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A memorial service for Steenkamp will be held in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday evening, reported SABC. Her body will be flown back for the service before being cremated, her family said.


"Her future has been cut short...I dare say she's with the angels," said Mike Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's uncle.


Producers of the South African reality show Steenkamp competed in said the series will still premiere Saturday night on SABC as planned, but will now include a special tribute to the slain law school graduate whose modeling career was starting to take off.


RELATED: Reeva Steenkamp, Oscar Pistorius Girlfriend, Saw Self as 'Brainy, Blonde, Bombshell'


"This is the only time that you see the real Reeva," executive producer and director of "Tropka Island of Treasure" Samantha Moon told "Good Morning America." "She was kind and sweet and?so hard working.


"They will see the girl that we loved."


Meanwhile, the sprinter's sponsors ? including Nike, BT, Theirry Mugler, Oakley and Ossur, the Icelandic company that manufactures the prosthetic blades Pistorius races on ? are acting cautiously as the athlete awaits his bail hearing on Tuesday.


M-Net movies, a subscription-funded South African television channel has already pulled their ad campaign featuring Pistorius, tweeting, "Out of respect & sympathy to the bereaved, M-Net will be pulling its entire Oscar campaign featuring Oscar Pistorius with immediate effect."


Nike, who's ad featuring the double-amputee reads "I am the bullet in the chamber," released a statement saying the company is "continuing the monitor the situation closely."


Still, the athlete's' friends and colleagues said the murder charges have yet to sink in.


"When I heard, I was in shock and I'm just still trying to process it," Jamaican gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt told the Associated Press Friday night after the NBA All-Star celebrity game in Houston, Tex.


"I would just like to say, I have dated Oscar on and off for 5 YEARS, NOT ONCE has he EVER lifted a finger to me, made me fear for my life," his ex-girlfriend Jenna Edkins tweeted on Friday.


ABC News' Colleen Curry contributed to this report.



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Meteor explodes over central Russia, over 1,000 injured


CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - A meteor streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a wide area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured more than 1,000 people.


People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave, according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.


The fireball, travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second according to Russian space agency Roscosmos, had blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away.


Car alarms went off, thousands of windows shattered and mobile phone networks were disrupted. The Interior Ministry said the meteor explosion, a very rare spectacle, also unleashed a sonic boom.


"I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day," said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.


"I felt like I was blinded by headlights."


The meteor, which weighed about 10 tons and may have been made of iron, entered Earth's atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km (19-31 miles) above ground, according to Russia's Academy of Sciences.


No deaths were reported but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to the region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease the disruption and help the victims.


The Interior Ministry said about 1,200 people had been injured, at least 200 of them children, and most from shards of glass.


EXTREMELY RARE


The region of Chelyabinsk has long been a hub for the Russian military and defense industry, and it is often the site where artillery shells are decommissioned.


A local Emergencies Ministry official said meteor storms were extremely rare and Friday's incident may have been connected with an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool that was due to pass Earth.


But an astronomer at Russia's Academy of Sciences, Sergei Barabanov, poured doubt on that report. He said there was no evidence to support the theory that the meteor had travelled with the asteroid or had broken off from it.


The European Space Agency, on its Twitter microblog, also said its experts had confirmed there was no link.


The regional governor in Chelyabinsk said the meteorite shower had caused more than $30 million in damage, and the Emergencies Ministry said some 300 buildings had been affected.


One piece of meteorite broke through the ice of nearby Cherbakul Lake, leaving a hole several meters wide.


Despite warnings not to approach any unidentified objects, some enterprising locals were hoping to cash in.


"Selling meteorite that fell on Chelyabinsk!" one prospective seller, Vladimir, said on a popular Russian auction website. He attached a picture of a black piece of stone that on Friday afternoon was priced at 1,488 roubles ($49.46).


WINDOWS BREAK, FRAMES BUCKLE


The early morning blast and ensuing shock wave blew out windows on Chelyabinsk's central Lenin Street, buckled some shop fronts and rattled apartment buildings in the city center.


"I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend," said Andrei, a local resident who did not give his second name. "Then there was a flash and I saw a trail of smoke across the sky and felt a shock wave that smashed windows."


Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens.


A wall was badly damaged at the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant but a spokeswoman said no environmental threat resulted.


In 1908, a meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 miles) in Siberia, breaking windows as far as 200 km (125 miles) from the point of impact.


The Emergencies Ministry described Friday's events as a "meteor shower in the form of fireballs" and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic.


Simon Goodwin, an astrophysics expert from Britain's University of Sheffield, said that roughly 1,000 to 10,000 tons of material rained down from space towards the earth every day, but most burned up in the atmosphere.


"While events this big are rare, an impact that could cause damage and death could happen every century or so. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop impacts."


The meteor struck just as an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 meters (yards) in diameter, was due to pass closer to Earth - at a distance of 27,520 km (17,100 miles) - than any other known object of its size since scientists began routinely monitoring asteroids about 15 years ago.


(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Thomas Grove; Editing by Mark Heinrich)



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Star-studded opening for ME@OUE






SINGAPORE: Singapore television icons Zoe Tay, Joanne Peh, Elvin Ng and Tay Ping Hui were among the galaxy of stars who turned up for the grand opening of the swanky new restaurant ME@OUE on Friday, the result of a collaboration between MediaCorp, Food Junction and property developer OUE.

About 270 guests got the chance to mingle with some of the most popular celebrities in Singapore as they sampled exquisite Japanese, French and Chinese dishes prepared by the restaurant's three chefs - Michelin star chefs Masayasu Yonemura, Laurent Peugeot and celebrity chef Justin Hor – at the event.

"Having two Michelin starred chefs is pretty powerful. We have a very interesting mix of food," said Tay Ping Hui, adding that he also enjoyed the restaurant's ambience and the gorgeous views it affords.

Situated on the 19th floor of the OUE Bayfront, ME@OUE offers diners unobstructed views of the city skyline and will even grant great views of the Formula 1 night race when racing season comes around.

Singapore actress Joanne Peh also found the view from the restaurant irresistible.

"The view is one of the things that really took my breath away. It's actually quite romantic if you sit outside at night if it's not raining.

"I think every couple would enjoy being here. Even if you are not a couple, to come up here and just enjoy the view, I think it will be quite an experience," said Peh.

However, the 200-seater restaurant's biggest draw could well be the stars themselves.

While there are plans to hold special media events that would bring the stars to ME@OUE, many of the celebrities at the grand opening said that they would probably return in their spare time as well, making it an ideal place for an evening's stargazing and some excellent food.

-CNA/ha



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Passengers trade broken-down ship for broken-down bus

(CBS News) Thousands of passengers erupted into cheers Thursday night as the crippled triumph finally pulled up to the dock. As they stepped onto dry land, and into the arms of their loved ones some couldn't contain their excitement.

Carnival then chartered a caravan of buses to transport folks out of Mobile, Ala. To add insult to injury, at least one of those buses became stranded on the way to New Orleans, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.

The nightmare started Sunday, when an engine fire knocked out power.

Passengers leave cruise ship telling tales of woe

Kendell Jenkins won the trip in a contest, but said it was more like cruising on a floating port-o-potty. "I'm just really thankful and blessed to be back," she said. "I mean there was sewage, water everywhere, mix that with some rotten food smells and welcome to carnival Triumph."

"No ships were coming, no boats, were coming, we saw no helicopters," said Jenkins. "It scared us because we thought the ship wasn't notifying or coming out to help us."

It took more than a day before the first tugboat arrived. As passengers got cell reception, they shared photos revealing squalid conditions - sewage seeping through the floors, plastic bags used for restrooms. Tent camps above deck, and mattresses sprawled out below. For some, the hardest part was losing contact with their family.

Stricken Carnival Cruise Line ship Triumph expected to dock in Mobile, Ala.



It took several grueling hours to drag the massive ship through a narrow channel Thursday. At the terminal, carnival C.E.O. Gerry Cahill addressed reporters.

"We pride ourselves in providing our guests with a great vacation experience and clearly we failed in this particular case," he said. He then boarded the ship and apologized to passengers, but some still want answers.

For Anna Werner's full report, watch the video in the player above

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Cruise Ship Now Faces Expected Wave of Lawsuits












Despite having their feet back on solid ground and are making their way home, passengers from the Carnival Triumph cruise ship are still fuming over their five days of squalor on the stricken ship and the cruise ship company is likely to be hit with a wave of lawsuits.


"I think people are going to file suits and rightly so," maritime trial attorney John Hickey told ABCNews.com. "I think, frankly, that the conduct of Carnival has been outrageous from the get-go."


Hickey, a Miami-based attorney, said his firm has already received "quite a few" inquiries from passengers who just got off the ship early this morning.


"What you have here is a) negligence on the part of Carnival and b) you have them, the passengers, being exposed to the risk of actual physical injury," Hickey said.


Click Here for Photos of the Stranded Ship at Sea


The attorney said that whether passengers can recover monetary compensation will depend on maritime law and the 15-pages of legal "gobbledygook," as Hickey described it, that passengers signed before boarding, but "nobody really agrees to."


One of the ticket conditions is that class action lawsuits are not allowed, but Hickey said there is a possibility that could be voided when all the conditions of the situation are taken into account.


One of the passengers already thinking about legal action is Tammy Hilley, a mother of two, who was on a girl's getaway with her two friends when a fire in the ship's engine room disabled the vessel's propulsion system and knocked out most of its power.


"I think that's a direction that our families will talk about, consider and see what's right for us," Hilley told "Good Morning America" when asked if she would be seeking legal action.


While she said that she does not want to be greedy or exploit the situation, she does not feel that Carnival's $500 compensation is enough for the trauma passengers suffered.








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"You talk about the emotional trauma and just last night, feeling what we went through last night while we were on land with our families and our insides just trembling," she said. "I don't think it begins to even say what is needed here."


In addition to the money, passengers will receive a full refund for the cruise, transportation expenses and vouchers for another cruise.


"We made our own nest [on deck] because we were just too terrified to go inside because of the smells and the germs, so we just banded together and made our own little nest and just survived," Hilley's friend Ann Barlow said.


Her friend Carolyn Klam said she got a stomach virus from drinking bad water once the power went out and friend Tammy Hilley said her cell phone was stolen this morning as the boat came into port.


"I think going back to our room was kind of traumatic and seeing that from day one we had no home, we were homeless," Hilley said. "We would go downstairs below deck and your feet could feel the sludge that you were walking through. The smells and the liquids draining from the ceiling and the stories of people sleeping in the hallways and the sanitary bags in the hallway, that was traumatic to just watch it start piling up."


The more than 4,000 passengers and crew began to disembark from the damaged ship around 10:15 p.m. CT Thursday in Mobile, Ala., amid cheers and tears. The last passenger left the ship at 1 a.m. CT, according to Carnival's Twitter handle.


Passenger Brandi Dorsett was thankful to be home, especially for her mother who was with her on the ship. Dorsett said she wasn't pleased with the doctor on staff.


"My mother is a diabetic, and they would not even come to the room because she cannot walk the stairs to help her with insulin. She hasn't had insulin in three days," Dorsett said.


The Carnival Triumph departed Galveston, Texas, last Thursday and lost power Sunday.


Cruise Ship Newlyweds Won't Be Spending Honeymoon on a Boat


After power went out, passengers texted ABC News that sewage was seeping down the walls from burst plumbing pipes, carpets were wet with urine, and food was in short supply. Reports surfaced of elderly passengers running out of critical heart medicine and others on board squabbling over scarce food.


"It's degrading. Demoralizing, and then they want to insult us by giving us $500," Veronica Arriaga said after disembarking the ship.


As the ship docked, passengers lined the decks of the Triumph, waving and whistling to those on shore. "Happy V-Day" read a homemade sign made for the Valentine's Day arrival, while another sent a starker message: "The ship's afloat, so is the sewage."


WATCH: Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill Apologizes to Passengers






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"Blade Runner" Pistorius charged with murdering girlfriend


JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, was charged on Thursday with shooting dead his girlfriend at his upscale home in Pretoria.


Police said they opened a murder case after a 30-year-old woman was found dead at the Paralympic and Olympic star's house in the Silverlakes gated complex on the capital's outskirts.


Pistorius, 26, and his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, had been the only people in the house at the time of the shooting, police brigadier Denise Beukes told reporters, adding witnesses had been interviewed about the early morning incident.


"We are talking about neighbors and people that heard things earlier in the evening and when the shooting took place," Beukes said outside the heavily guarded residential complex.


Police said a 9mm pistol had been found at the scene.


Beukes said police were aware of previous incidents at the Pistorius house. "I can confirm that there has previously been incidents at the home of Mr Oscar Pistorious, of allegations of a domestic nature," she said.


Pistorius, who uses carbon fiber prosthetic blades to run, is due to appear in a Pretoria court on Friday.


"He is doing well but very emotional," his lawyer Kenny Oldwage told SABC TV, but gave no further comment.


A sports icon for triumphing over disability to compete with able-bodied athletes at the Olympics, his sponsorship deals, including one with sports apparel group Nike, are thought to be worth $2 million a year.


South Africa's M-Net cable TV channel said it was pulling adverts featuring Pistorius off air immediately after blanket coverage of the arrest in a country more used to honoring Pistorius as a national hero.


"WE ARE ALL DEVASTATED"


Steenkamp's colleagues in the modeling world were distraught. "We are all devastated. Her family is in shock," her agent, Sarita Tomlinson, tearfully told Reuters. "They did have a good relationship. Nobody actually knows what happened."


Pistorius, who was born without a fibula in both legs, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics and reached the 400-metre semi-finals in London 2012.


In last year's Paralympics he suffered his first loss over 200 meters in nine years. After the race he questioned the legitimacy of Brazilian winner Alan Oliveira's prosthetic blades, though he was quick to express regret for the comments.


South Africa has some of the world's highest rates of violent crime, and many home owners have weapons to defend themselves against intruders, although Pistorius's complex is surrounded by a three-meter high wall and electric fence.


In 2004, Springbok rugby player Rudi Visagie shot dead his 19-year-old daughter after he mistakenly thought she was a robber trying to steal his car in the middle of the night.


Before the murder charge was announced, Johannesburg's Talk Radio 702 said the athlete may have mistaken Steenkamp for a burglar.


Pistorius was arrested in 2009 for assault after slamming a door on a woman and spent a night in police custody. Family and friends said it was just an accident and charges were dropped.


OLYMPIAN UNDERGOES POLICE TESTS


Steenkamp, a regular on the South African social scene, was reported to have been dating Pistorius for several months.


In the social pages of last weekend's Sunday Independent she described him as having "impeccable" taste. "His gifts are always thoughtful," she was quoted as saying.


Some of her last Twitter postings indicated she was looking forward to Valentine's Day on Thursday. "What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow???" she posted.


Pistorius was on Thursday being processed through the police system. "At this stage he is on his way to a district surgeon for medical examination," the police brigadier said.


"When a person has been accused of a crime like murder they look at things like testing under the finger nails, taking a blood alcohol sample and all kinds of other test that are done. They are standard medical tests," Beukes said.


Pistorius is also sponsored by British telecoms firm BT, sunglasses maker Oakley and French designer Thierry Mugler.


"We are shocked by this terrible, tragic news. We await the outcome of the South African police investigation," a BT spokeswoman said before Pistorius was charged.


A Nike spokesman in London said before hearing of the murder charge that the company was "saddened by the news, but we have no further comment to make at this stage".


Pistorius also has a sponsorship deal with Icelandic prosthetics manufacturer Ossur.


"I can only say that our thoughts and prayers are with Oscar and the families involved in the tragedy," Ossur CEO Jon Sigurdsson told Reuters. "It is completely premature to discuss or speculate on our business relationship with him."


Neighbors expressed shock at the arrest of a "good guy".


"It is difficult to imagine an intruder entering this community, but we live in a country where intruders can get in wherever they want to," said one Silverlakes resident, who did not want to be named.


"Oscar is a good guy, an upstanding neighbor, and if he is innocent I feel for this guy deeply," he said.


(Additional reporting by Sherilee Lakmidas, David Dolan, Ed Cropley, Jon Herskovitz, Keith Weir and Kate Holton; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Will Waterman)



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Pope calls for 'renewal' before historic resignation






VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday called for "real renewal" in the Church at an emotional farewell with priests from his Rome diocese where he said he would be "hidden from the world" once he resigns.

"We must work for the realisation of the real Council and for a real renewal of the Church," the pope said in a rare off-the-cuff speech about his experiences as a young reformer at the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s.

"Even though I am retiring for prayer now, I will always be close to all of you and I am sure you will remain close to me even though I will be hidden from the world," the 85-year-old said as hundreds of priests cheered and applauded.

The pope remembered the "enthusiasm" of the Council, which changed the face of Roman Catholicism by overhauling archaic rituals like mass in Latin. Benedict has since turned conservative.

The speech came a day after outpourings of emotion at his final public mass in St Peter's Basilica, after saying Monday that his advancing age prevented him from fulfilling his duties.

Thousands of tearful priests, nuns and ordinary faithful applauded the outgoing pope at the Ash Wednesday mass, which marks the start of a period of penitence in the Christian calendar before Easter Sunday on March 31.

Cardinals in purple Lent vestments doffed their mitres as a mark of respect.

The pope waved and smiled at the crowd, appearing relieved following his momentous announcement, which will make him only the second pope to resign in the Church's 2,000-year history, and the first to do so in over 700 years.

His final homily was a hard-hitting one, condemning the "hypocrisy" of those who use their religion just for show. He also urged an end to "rivalry" and "divisions" within a Church beset in recent years by a series of scandals.

Many have speculated that health concerns are behind the move, pointing to a series of incidents in recent years.

The Vatican on Thursday confirmed a newspaper report that Benedict hit his head and bled when he got up in the night during his trip to Mexico last year but said it had no bearing on his decision.

On Tuesday, the Vatican also admitted the pope had routine heart surgery to replace the batteries in his pacemaker.

The Vatican has said it expects the Conclave of Cardinals -- the 117 cardinal electors who meet behind closed doors under Michelangelo's famous frescoes in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican -- to elect Benedict's successor by Easter.

No firm date has been set but the conclave is expected to start between March 15 and March 19. There are signs that internal divisions could complicate reaching the two-thirds majority needed for a new pope.

Brazilian cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz told the Italian news agency ANSA of "tensions" between different personalities in the Vatican.

South African cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, who like Braz de Aviz is seen as a possible successor, said the Church was in a state of "profound crisis" and needed a new pope to bring about "spiritual renewal".

Napier also predicted that next month's conclave would last longer than the previous one in 2005, which took just two days to decide on Benedict.

The field so far appears wide open, with no clear favourite.

Napier said he would not rate candidates based on where they came from but indicated that the "balance" in the Church had shifted to the southern hemisphere, now home to most of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"The determining factor is he must have the wisdom and energy to confront the challenges that await the Church in every corner of the globe," he told Italian daily La Stampa.

"Church institutions should help evangelisation, not slow it down. Too often we give an impression to the outside world of confrontations and careerism rather than serving the faithful.

"People, and young people in particular, are waiting for words of truth from the Church.... On sexuality and ethics there is a strong need for sense. We need a dialogue of truth," he added.

Benedict has said he will step down on February 28 at 1900 GMT and retire to a Vatican monastery, setting up an unprecedented situation in which a pope and his predecessor will live within a stone's throw of each other.

Adding to the unusual nature of the arrangement, Benedict's protege, Georg Gaenswein, will live with the former pope as his secretary while also working closely with the new pontiff as prefect of the papal household.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi says Benedict -- who will revert to his previous name of Joseph Ratzinger -- could provide some kind of spiritual guidance for his successor, but his title is unclear.

"He will remain Benedict for us, that cannot change, but if we bump into him in the street I'm not sure what we'll call him," Lombardi said.

- AFP/jc



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Hot calendar app Tempo crushed by demand



Buzzy calendar and scheduling app Tempo, which made a splashy launch yesterday, is recovering after being overrun by new users.


"We are excited but overwhelmed by the demand," Raj Singh the founder and CEO of Tempo wrote in a post today.


Shortly after the app went live, Tempo was forced to close down new sign-ups, incensing would-be users and leading to a bevy of negative reviews in the App Store.


Singh now says the company is changing how it lets users access Tempo and its features while it works on getting everything up and running. That includes once again letting people register (something that earlier threw up error messages), as well as connect their calendars, address book, and e-mail account to the software.


The only thing the service won't do as quickly is cull through e-mail to find relevant messages, a key feature that Singh says is experiencing delays.


Tempo is a spinoff from SRI International, the same place where Apple's Siri was conceived. The software is designed to improve the way people accomplish common business activities on their phones, from conference calls to getting driving directions to meetings.


The demand issues are not the first for a productivity app on Apple's platform in recent days. Mailbox, an e-mail application for Gmail, quickly racked up a more than 700,000 user long wait list to get access to the app, which relies on servers to add lists, reminders and notifications beyond what Google already offers. That service has been experiencing sync issues, with some users reporting being unable to access their inbox.


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Couple describes Dorner ordeal, unexpected compliment

(CBS News) Police in Southern California are defending their actions in the manhunt for Christopher Dorner. They say they did not intentionally burn down the cabin where he apparently died.

Dorner was a suspected killer with a grudge against the Los Angeles Police Department, but two of his final victims say he didn't seem like a bad man.

Karen and Jim Reynolds are the owners of Mountain Vista Resort, the property where the alleged cop-killer had been hiding the day police tracked him down. On a routine check of one of their units, Dorner surprised them from upstairs.

"He opened the door and came out at us. He had his gun drawn," said Jim. "He yelled 'stay calm' and ran out."

"He talked to us trying to calm us down and saying very frequently he would not kill us," said Karen. "He had said 'I just want to clear my name.'"

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Jim said that Dorner told them he didn't have a problem with them and wasn't going to hurt them.

Dorner had been keeping an eye Karen and Jim for days, and although he had broken in and tied them up, he paid them an unexpected compliment.

"He said we are very hard workers, we're good people. He talked about how he could see Jim working on the snow every day," said Karen.

"He said he'd been watching us shoveling the snow," said Jim.

Dorner left the couple behind, and tried to take their car. But he soon returned, asking how to start their keyless Nissan. Later, the Reynolds managed to undo their restraints and call police. A few hours later, the manhunt was over.

Although the Reynolds were aware of Dorner's alleged trail of violence, they couldn't help but feel some compassion for their captor.

"I really didn't wish him dead, though. I really didn't. I prayed for him a lot and I'm praying for his family now," said Karen.

For John Blackstone's full report, watch the video in the player above

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