D Thursday, September 10, 2009 METRO 11 Overnight accommodation from only 75 per room Contact our Christmas Co-Ordinator today on 01 618 5600 or email vpratt@burlingtonhotel.ie www.burlingtonhotel.ie METROWorld Sierra Leone: At least 70 people, mostly children between the ages of eight and 16 returning from their school holidays, died after a boat carrying 150 passengers capsized in a heavy storm near the capital Freetown. Police said the boats engine failed as it drifted into a storm and 24 survivors had so far been found. Lack of maintenance and over-crowding leads to many such accidents in the country. ZiMBaBWe: An end to sanctions is being urged by African leaders. South African president Jacob Zuma says continuing sanctions will make it difficult for the countrys power-sharing agreement to be implemented. Mr Zuma (pictured) made the comments before leaving Congo after a two-day Development Community Summit. Long-time Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe blames Western sanctions for his countrys economic woes. aMeriCa: A robbery suspect was caught when he returned to his victims home two hours later to ask the woman out on a date. Stephfon Bennett, 20, was among three men who robbed a couple in Columbus, Ohio. The woman recognised Bennett when he returned to ask her out. She had a relative call police and he was arrested outside. TURKEY: Rescue workers and members of the public gather near partially submerged and flood-damaged vehicles during rescue operations in Istanbul. The death toll from the floods in the city rose to 31 yesterday PIcture: AFP Kenya: President Mwai Kibaki has fired the countrys police commissioner, whose officers are accused of committing executions and rapes. Human rights campaigners welcomed the firing of Mohammed Hussein Ali but said it was only a small step in reforming the security forces. Mr Ali (pictured) was brought in to clean up the police six years ago but did little to tackle a culture of corruption and abuse. Michael Shields parents and friends outside his family home Pictures: PA Freed Liverpool fan tells of his 4-year living hellBy Brian EaSt FREED football fan Michael Shields yesterday told how life became a living hell after he was jailed over an attack on a barman in Bulgaria. The 22-year-old, who has been par- doned by British justice secretary Jack Straw, said the past four years had been the hardest of his life. I am only sitting here today thanks to the love, support and tireless campaign- ing of a number of people, he said in a statement. He praised family and friends who never for one minute doubted my inno- cence and who stood by me every step of the way. I couldnt have made it without their love. Its a hard thing to be locked away for a crime you did not commit, he said. He also thanked Liverpool and Everton football fans who have supported his fam- ily over the past four years with a cam- paign of letters, protests and marches. Your voices were heard. Thanks to you, I knew I would never walk alone. Thank you, he said. But the Liverpool fan could not hide his anger at his treatment since the 2005 at- tack on Martin Georgiev, which saw Mr Shields sentenced to 15 years in jail by a Bulgarian court. I was just 18 when I was arrested. Im now 22 and face having to rebuild my life which was shattered by the failure of two legal systems, one in the UK and one in Bulgaria, he said. Today is a happy day for me but one of mixed emotions too. I am a free man, yes, but it should not have come to this, he added. Mr Shields offered his sympathy to the family of Mr Georgiev who was the in- nocent victim of an unprovoked attack. He and his family, like me and mine, have been denied justice for four long years, he said. MaLaySia: Indigenous tribal girls as young as ten have been raped by loggers in remote jungles on Borneo island, a government report said yesterday, in the first official verification of sexual abuse accusations involving timber companies. The report bolsters claims by the Penan tribal community of mistreatment by the timber industry, which activists say has encroached on the customary rights of ancient tribes over forests and destroyed their ancestral lands. north Korea: The countrys 61st anniversary was marked yesterday with a vow to mercilessly annihilate the US imperialists if they attack. State TV played patriotic songs calling for eternal loyalty to leader Kim Jong Il, while the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said: If the US attacks, the North will mobilise all military strengths and mercilessly annihilate the aggressors. The anniversary comes at a time of heightened tensions over North Koreas nuclear defiance. aMeriCa: Drugmaker Pfizers trademark was infringed when a decommissioned missile was towed around Manhattan emblazoned with the words Viva Viagra, the slogan for the impotence drug, a judge ruled yesterday. Pfizer sued Arye Sachs after he parked the 7m (20ft) missile outside its headquarters in September 2008 in a stunt to promote his business selling outdoor advertising spots on retired military equipment. JaPan: The new ruling Democratic Party clinched a deal to form a coalition with two tiny parties whose help it needs to pass laws smoothly, promising to review the issue of US troops stationed in Japan that could upset key ally Washington. Despite a landslide in parliaments lower house, the party led by Yukio Hatoyama (pictured) needs backing from the pacifist Social Democrats and the conservative Peoples New Party in the upper house. 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