SOUTH DOCK,
Turks and Caicos Islands Coast Guard ends search for Haitians
The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search Saturday for more than 40 missing Haitian migrants after local authorities said it was no longer needed as hopes faded of finding more survivors.
Boats and helicopters belonging to the Turks and Caicos, near where the boat sank Friday, continued to search the Caribbean waters.
But police Inspector Sharon Whitaker said officials may suspend their search today if no more survivors or bodies are found.
Roughly 160 Haitian migrants were packed aboard a 25-foot boat when it ran into stormy weather before dawn Friday off the coast of this British territory. Thirty-six people – 23 women and 13 men – were confirmed dead.
A survivor said the migrant ship sank after passengers panicked and shifted to one side, overturning the vessel and spilling most of the passengers into the shark-infested waters.
ISTANBUL, Turkey
10,000 pro-secular Turks stage protest
More than 10,000 Turks gathered in two western cities Saturday to protest the Islamic-rooted government, calling for Turkey’s secular system to be preserved.
The protests in Canakkale and Manisa, two cities near Turkey’s Aegean coast, follow massive pro-secular demonstrations in Ankara and Istanbul that were attended by more than a million people.
The protesters Saturday carried Turkish flags and posters of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s founder who insisted on a separation of religion and state in this 99 percent Muslim country.
Police estimated that more than 10,000 people were present at the demonstration.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has come under heavy pressure in the run-up to presidential elections, with secularists fearing that he would expand his party’s control by appointing a close ally to the post.
BEIJING
Coal mine blast kills 15, traps others
An explosion in a central China coal mine killed 15 miners and trapped others, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The explosion tore through the Pudeng coal mine Saturday afternoon, trapping an estimated 30 miners underground, Xinhua said.
Aside from the 15 confirmed dead, the report cited an official with the Shanxi province Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau as saying that the exact number of miners trapped had not been verified.
China’s mines are among the deadliest in the world, with an average of 13 miners dying every day in accidents. Explosions are frequent in coal mines, where seams often hold pockets of gas.
OTTAWA
Canada tops Austria for largest gold coin
Got change for a million? Canada does: the world’s biggest pure gold coin at 220 pounds.
Already, three buyers have shelled out for one of the 1 million Canadian dollar coins introduced last week.
The Royal Canadian mint made the coins – 20 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick – mostly to seize the bragging rights from Austria, which had the record with a 70-pound, 15-inch-wide coin.
“They’re not doing this because there is huge demand for 100-kilo gold coins,” Bret Evans, editor of Canadian Coin News, said Saturday.
