US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman said Gen. Martin Dempsey "Snowden has hurt US ties with others nations"

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman says NSA leaker Edward Snowden's disclosures about U.S. surveillance programs have undermined U.S. relationships with other countries and affected what he calls "the importance of trust."

Gen. Martin Dempsey told CNN's "State of the Union" in an interview broadcast Sunday that the U.S. will "work our way back. But it has set us back temporarily."

Russian officials say Snowden has been stuck in the transit area of a Moscow airport since arriving on a flight from Hong Kong two weeks ago.

Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua have offered asylum.

The head of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, told he "absolutely" thinks that one of the countries will give Snowden travel documents.

Rogers, R-Mich., said the U.S. should look at trade agreements with the nations that are offering asylum "to send a very clear message that we won't put up with this kind of behavior."

Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he wasn't surprised that those nations were offering asylum. "They like sticking it to the United States," Mendendez, D-N.J., told NBC's "Meet the Press."

He also mentioned re-examining U.S. trade policies and foreign aid to any country that might take in Snowden.

"Clearly such acceptance of Snowden to any country ... is going to put them directly against the United States, and they need to know that," he said.

Hargeisa Minority Street Children received Reintegaration support from Save Children and USWO

Today, 7 July 7, 2013 USWO minority right based NGO with precence Minister of Labour and Familiy Affairs, Child Rights Community Committees (CRCCs) from Dami A and B villages, and Ismail Yahya-Coordinator of Child Protection of Save the Children International (SCI) has begun the distribution package of support to the 60 Hargeisa minority street children in Dami A and B settelments in Hargeisa. Today, the first group of 20 street children had received one package of support containing 1 mattress plus 1 bed sheet for each every child.

During the street children sleeping package distribution event, the USWO chairman Mr. Abdilahi Hassan Digaale requested the parents of these minority street children to commit that their children shall no more continue staying and working in the streets. He also thanked to SCI and the Somaliland government for their continue keen consideration on child protection issues particularly to the most vulenarable minority street children. Mr. Digaale added “this support is not the first of it’s kind provided by Save Children Internation, but also it has provided direct family support including income generation and livelihood to families from minority communities in Hargeisa.

Ismail Yahya, the Coordinator of Child Protection of SCI in his words at event he welcome the hard working of USWO management team, togather with the Child Rights Community Committees members and Ministery of Labor and Socail Affaires, for their organization of the package distribution event, he underlined that the SCI is committed to continue to work with this project with USWO and other stakeholders including the parent committees and government concened agencies. Mr. Yahye called to the parents whom their children has received the sleeping package today, keep their children in all times. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE PROJECT

USWO in collaburation with Save The Children International (SCI) are jointly implementing a re-integrate 125 children into their families program in vulnerable minority settlements of Daami A and B in Hargeisa. These children currently live and work in the streets of Hargeisa town. These children exposure all forms of abuse including sexual abuse, child laboring; etc. USWO in collaboration with CRCCs, MoLSA and SC shall undertake the reintegration exercise.

Reintegrating on street children into their families and community is, however, no straightforward task. It requires concentration and concret strategy with effective child friendly process in the line with principles of child right convention. One of the first steps is to indentify number of street children from DAAMI (A+B).

The main objectives is:

• To reunify street children from DAAMI (A+B) with their families;
• To re-establish children’s normal life with their parents/care givers;
• To regain the normal behavior of the child by establishing Parent Child relationship and better understanding of each other’s rights  and responsibilities.

(left) Identification of street children at Jajabka.                         (Right) identification of street children at Red Sea.          

USWO Child Protection Officer and CRCCs mobilizer doing individual registration and interview of street children

The total children registered and interview range 111 so far. Generally, the physical appearance of the children interviewed seem despair including family livelihoods. About 80% of the children are found not completed lower primary schools due to poverty and/or do family support child laboring tasks. The average age of the children assessed ranges between 8 to 14 years old. About 60 % of the children interviewed have no primary protection concern, in particular those who live alone in street and have no contacts with their parents or relatives. About 48% of the children assessed need to have urgent intervention and join education and/or have skill to work for. It has been noted also that the child reintegration assessement revealed the following findings:

• 32 of children rejected to have family reunion;
• 60 of the children accepted reunion to their families; and
• 19 of the children are found unable to decide to make family reunion neither from their families nor children’s say.

 

Panda Gives Birth in Taiwan

In this photo released by the Taipei Zoo,
a female giant panda named "Yuan Yuan" is
seen giving birth to a female cub at the
Taipei Zoo, in Taiwan, July 6, 2013.

Taipei officials say a giant panda, which China donated to Taiwan four years ago, has given birth to a cub.

Officials say nine-year-old Yuan Yuan delivered the tiny pink bear Saturday night, following artificial insemination given in March.

The island will be able to keep the cub, since its mother and her mate, Tuan Tuan, were gifts to mark warning ties between Taiwan and China.

Usually, giant pandas are only lent to other countries, and their offspring must be sent to China.

It is not yet known when the newborn panda will be on display, nor what it will be named.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

Somalia’s Shabab shakeup and the importance of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys

National security reporter Michelle Shephard on her 2006 interview with Somalia’s foremost Islamic militant, who is once again at the centre of a political storm

By: Michelle Shephard National Security Reporter,

The call for the interview came just minutes before we were to meet. “Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys will see you. Now,” an intermediary told us by phone.

We ran to our cars, guards in front, guards behind, and raced through Mogadishu’s sandy streets in the heat of an October afternoon.

Aweys’ home was somewhere off Ballad Rd., although all I can remember clearly is a little boy cradling a dusty blender and waving furiously at us as we turned onto his street.

“Ask me anything,” Aweys began our interview, although after an hour of talking through a Somali translator it was clear he would dodge as many questions as he would answer.

Aweys, who was added to the UN terrorist list in November 2001 for alleged links to Al Qaeda, is one of Somalia’s foremost militants. When we met in 2006, he was a leader of the Islamic Courts Union, which had briefly overthrown rivalling warlords to bring order to Somalia’s chaotic capital. The ICU had sanctioned the Toronto Star’s visit, which didn’t ensure our safety, but did allow us to get out of the airport with a $250 passport “visa” stamp.

Wrapping up the interview, Aweys stated: “We don’t have any links to Al Qaeda,” adding almost plaintively, “Why don’t they give us a chance?”

By “they,” he was referring to Washington critics who had dubbed the ICU “Africa’s Taliban.”

Fast forward through seven bloody years: a U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion that quashed the ICU and helped give rise to Al Shabab; the Shabab’s formal merger with Al Qaeda in 2012; a succession of unpopular internationally backed governments; till today, where there is cautious optimism about Somalia’s recovery.

Once again, the aging but still powerful Aweys finds himself at the centre of the political storm.

The 78-year-old was taken into custody by Mogadishu’s security forces last week — perhaps by surrender, perhaps through forceful persuasion — to an uncertain fate. He has reportedly defected from Al Shabab, which he had joined in 2010, after clashing with the Shabab’s hardline leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Aweys’ detention sparked both celebrations and protests in the capital — a reflection of Somalia’s complicated clan-influenced politics. Regarded by some as a war criminal, to others he remains an elder statesman of the Hawiye clan, which is dominant in Mogadishu.

His defection may be a political victory for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, also Hawiye, but all eyes are on Mogadishu to see what happens next.

“Aweys’ case is a minefield for the government,” argues analyst Abdi Aynte, founder of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a Mogadishu-based think-tank. “It’s a litmus test because there are potentially other (Shabab) leaders who will assess how he’s treated and will defect, or not, based on that.”

Aynte says there is also pressure from outside, such as the U.S., EU and Ethiopia, for Aweys’ prosecution for the myriad of suicide bombings and assassinations committed by the Shabab.

Then, as always, there are clan considerations, with ramifications for either treating Aweys leniently or harshly.

“The government is trying to play this jigsaw carefully,” says Aynte.

If reports are accurate that Aweys surrendered thanks to a deal negotiated by elders within his Hawiye subclan, Habar Gadir, there is likely an agreement for his safe passage elsewhere. Local reports stated Friday that Aweys, once dubbed the Old Fox for his wily ways and henna-stained red beard, may be given such asylum in Qatar, Turkey or Norway.

Such a move, however, would likely need the blessing of the UN Security Council and the White House, since Aweys is listed as a “specially designated global terrorist” under U.S. law.

Whatever his destination, others are asking if Aweys could become a powerful ally in fighting the Shabab, providing intelligence, while steering his following away from Godane and the global Al Qaeda doctrine he espouses.

Aynte notes that Aweys has so far been unwilling to renounce violence or recognize the legitimacy of the government. But, he adds, “that may change.”

Aweys was just one leader the Shabab lost last week in what appears to be a Godane power grab. Unconfirmed local reports claimed that Godane loyalists killed group veteran Ibrahim al-Afghani, who had fought alongside Osama bin Laden, and sent longtime Shabab spokesman Mukhtar Robow into hiding.

Again, how this will impact the future of the organization remains unclear. Political analyst Hassan M. Abukar, writing in African Arguments blog, suggests that Godane’s “coup” may “pave the way for the fragmentation of the militant group along clan lines.”

Despite the Shabab’s waning popularity, in recent months they’ve executed a series of co-ordinated attacks in Mogadishu, including the June 19 assault on the UN compound, and the April 14 Supreme Court massacre, reportedly led by a Canadian recruit.

The Shabab may have been the latest group to which Aweys pledged allegiance, but from his roots in the Somali-Ethiopian war of 1977 to the formation of the Islamist group, the al-Itihaad al-Islamiya in the early 1990s, he is known for his ability to adapt.

Following the demise of the ICU in 2007, Aweys helped found the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS) and then the Hizbul Islam, which merged with the Shabab three years ago.

But Aweys’ reputation as an opportunist, rather than a committed ideologue, matters little when it comes to his designation in the West as a terrorist or to the victims of Shabab suicide bombings, which he supported.

No longer can Aweys state, as he did in 2006, that his organization is not tied to Al Qaeda. After all, the Shabab has boasted of the connection.

The question is simply what chances will he be given now?

Michelle Shephard is the Star’s National Security reporter and has covered Somalia for the last decade. Follow her on Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/shephardm @shephardmEND.

Source: thestar.com

Biyo-baxa degdega ah ee RAGGA xiliga GALMADA iyo sida loo daweeyo (Qormada caafimaadka)

Waa maxay biyo-bax degdeg ah ee RAGGA xiliga galmadu socoto?

Biyo-bax degdeg ah ama waxa loo yaqaano caafimaad ahaan “Premature Ejaculation” loona soo gaabiyo “PE” waa xaalad ragga uu ku biyo-baxo muddo labo daqiiqo gudahood ah ama ka yar.

Ragga badankood waxay la kulmaan xaaladan ugu yaraan hal mar noloshooda, waxay kaloo daraasad la sameeyay sheegtay isku celcelis muddada ay ragga ku biyo-baxaan inay tahay 5 ilaa 6 daqiiqadood.

Waxaa klaoo jira qeexid kale oo oranaysa hadduu ninka biyo-baxo iyadoo weli xaaskiisa dhamaysan inuu qabo “PE”.

Howsha galmada waxay u baahantahay inuu jiro Rabitaan (Lipido), Kacsi (Arousal) iyo Biyo-bax (Orgasm), haddii saddexdaas mid la waayo hawlgab ayaa jira.

Maxaa keeno biyo-bax degdeg ah?

Biyo-baxa waxaa loo kala qeybiyaa labo marxaladooda oo kale ah:

1. Wejiga saarista biyaha (Emission) oo ah illaa ay ka soo gaadho ibta.
2. Wejiga ganista biyaha (Expulsion) oo ah wixii ka dambeeyo xaaladda kor ku xusan.

Biyo-baxa degdega ah haddii qofku isku arko isagoo awal fiicnaa waxaa loo yaqaanna “Secondary PE” laakiin haddii uu qabay ilaa intii uu ka qaangaaray waxaa loo yaqaannaa “Primary PE” waxayna ku kala duwanaanayaan daaweynta.

Waxaa la aaminsanyahay in sababaha keeno PE-da ay yihiin badanaa dhibaatooyin nafsaani ah oo ay ka mid tahay niyad-jabka, welwelka, cabsida iyo waxyaabo kale.

Waxaa kaloo keeni kara dhibaato maskaxeed, isbedel heerka hormoonada, dhibaatooyinka prostaytka, cudurro dhaxal ah iyo daawooyinka qaar.

Si loo ogaado waxa keenay dhibaatadan waxa loo baahanyahay in qofka laga qaado warbixin buuxda oo taabanaysa qaybaha noloshiisa sidaa awgeed, waxaa habboon in aad u tagto dhakhtar.

Sidee loo daaweeyaa xaaladdan?

Daaweynta waxaa loo kala qaadaa 3 nooc oo kala ah:

1- In la daaweeyo haddii ay jiraan cudurro kale oo keeni karo xaaladdaan (Tusaale: heerka cunsurka magniisiyamka oo ku yaraada qofka)

2- Tababar nafsaani ah: tababarka waxaa lagu dheeraayaa mudada biyo-baxa iyadoo la isku dayo in la joojiyo dibna loo bilaabi karo galmada dhawr jeer ama tababar lagu magacaabo “Kegel Excercise” oo lagu xoojiyo muryada miskaha si qofku awood ugu yeesho inuu kontorooli karo murqyadiisa.

3- Daawooyin la qaato: waxaa ka mid ah daawooyinka dheereeya mudada biyo-baxa “SSRIs” waana daawo ah lidka-diiqada iyo welwelka.

Waxa kale oo jira bamaato kabuubiso (Lidocaine) ah oo la marsado taasoo keento in dareenka uu yaraado sidaasna ay ku dheeraato muddada.

F.G: waxaa dhici karta in aad aragto ama maqashid daawooyin iyo waxyaabo kale oo tiro badan oo la xayaysiinayo oo la leeyahay waxaa lagu daaweeyaa xaladahan iyo wixii la mid ah, balse adiga oo aan la tashan dhakhtar aqoon u leh xaaladaada, ha isticmaalin maxaa yeelay waxay keeni karaan dhibatooyin hor leh.

Waxaa kaloo muhiim ah in aad ogaato dhibaato kale oo ka gaar ah xaaladdan taasi oo ah kacsi la’aanta oo iyaduna ah mushkilad kale oo keento hawlgabka galmada.

My Name is Khan I'm not a Terrorist - YouTube

Britain deports cleric Abu Qatada after legal marathon and what Jordan charges after receives Abu Qatada

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada arrives back at his home after being released on bail, in London in this November 13, 2012 file photograph. Credit: REUTERS/Neil Hall/Files

By William James and Suleiman Al-Khalidi

LONDON/AMMAN (Reuters) - A radical Muslim cleric once called "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe" was deported from Britain to Jordan on Sunday, ending years of British government efforts to send him back home to face terrorism charges.

A police convoy collected Abu Qatada from London's Belmarsh prison after midnight and drove him through the streets of the capital to a military airport. Soon after arriving in Jordan, he was taken under heavy guard to a nearby military court.

The legal battle to deport Qatada has embarrassed successive British governments. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "absolutely delighted" it was over.

Muslim cleric Abu Qatada boards a small aircraft
bound for Jordan during his deportation from Royal
Air Force base Northolt in London July 7, 2013 in
a picture provided by Britain's Ministry of Defence.
Credit: REUTERS/Sgt Ralph Merry/Royal Air
Force/MoD/Crown Copyright/Handout via Reuters

"It's an issue that ... has made my blood boil - that this man who has no right to be in our country, who's a threat to our country, that it took so long and was so difficult to deport him," Cameron told reporters.

Jordan's Minister of State Mohammad al-Momani told Reuters Qatada would have a fair trial "with the Jordanian judiciary respecting human rights." Jordan convicted Qatada in his absence of encouraging militants who planned bomb attacks in 1999 and 2000. He will get a re-trial on those charges.

Britain had said the preacher posed a national security risk, but courts had repeatedly blocked his deportation.

His return was made possible by an extradition treaty adopted by Jordan and Britain last week that satisfied the concerns of British judges about the use of evidence obtained through torture.

Lawyers acting for Qatada said in May the cleric would leave voluntarily once the treaty had been finalized.

Sermons of the heavily bearded Qatada were found in a Hamburg flat used by some of those who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Qatada was deported on the anniversary of the July 7, 2005 suicide attacks on London's subway and bus network that killed more than 50 people.

Linked by a Spanish judge to the late al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Qatada has been in and out of jail in Britain since first being arrested in 2001. He was sent back to prison last March for breaching his bail conditions.

People board the aeroplane which will carry Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan from RAF Northolt base in London, July 7, 2013. Credit: REUTERS/Paul Hackett

British Home Secretary Theresa May said Britain now needed to take a closer look at its human rights laws "to remove the many layers of appeals available to foreign nationals we want to deport."

Jordan charges radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada after extradition from UK

A Jordanian military prosecutor says he has charged a radical Muslim preacher with conspiring to carry out Al Qaeda-linked attacks on Americans, Israelis and other Westerners in this key U.S. ally.

Abu Qatada, 53, arrived in Jordan earlier Sunday after being deported from Britain.

His extradition had been blocked in British and European courts for more than a decade over human rights concerns. Britain and Jordan ratified a treaty on torture aimed at easing those worries, clearing the way for his deportation.

The military prosecutor says Abu Qatada will be detained for 15 days pending further questioning. He says the cleric will remain at Muwaqar I, a prison in Amman's southeastern industrial suburb of Sahab

(Editing by Andrew Heavens and Matthew Tostevin)

Somali peace ‘historic responsibility’: Turkish FM

Helping Somalis “in every possible way” is a “historic responsibility” for Turkey, said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday.

Joint meeting with delegations of government officials from Somalia and Somaliland in central Istanbul with Turkish FM

ISTANBUL - Davutoglu held a joint meeting with delegations of government officials from Somalia and Somaliland in central Istanbul in a continuation of peace talks that began on April 13 in Ankara.

aa“The relations between Somali, Somaliland and Turkey are beyond any kind of borders,” Davutoglu said. “Despite geographical distance, historically we are like a family.”

The minister described the first meeting on April 13 as a “historic start”, where parties agreed on a joint statement to plan future talks. The statement had said country representatives would meet again in three months.

On Sunday’s meeting in Istanbul, the Turkish foreign minister met ministers and MPs from Somali and Somaliland, including Somali Interior Minister Hussein Gulled and Somaliland Trade Minister Muhammed Omar.

“We have always kept discussions on the joint future of our brothers [in Somali and Somaliland] on our agenda, and striven to build strong bridges between them through humanitarian aid,” Davutoglu said. “Irrespective of which country they live in, we will help all our Somali brothers and sisters in every possible way.”

“This is our historic responsibility, as well as a humanitarian responsibility and an indispensable part of our active diplomatic policy in Africa.”

Somaliland is an internationally recognized autonomous region in northwestern Somalia. It sought independence from the country in 1991 when Somalia suffered a government collapse, triggering a civil war that is still ongoing.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Waftigii Somaliland oo Gaadhay Turkiga Bilaabayna Wadohadalo Googoos ah

Waftigii Somaliland uga qayb gelaayey Wareega 4aad Shirka Wado Hadalka Somaliland iyo Somalia Oo Gaadhay Dalka Turkiga, Kulamo Googos Ah Oo Bilaabmay.

Waftigii Somaliland u matalaayay shirka wadahadalka oo ah wafti miisan culus, ayaa gaadhay Magaaladda Istanbul ee dalka Turkiga, Waftiga Somaliland ayaa sidiiran loogu soo daweeyay garoon diyaaradaha ee Magaaladda Istanbul, iyadoo lagu nasiyay qolka Madaxda caalamka lagu qaabilo ee VIP-da. Waxaana soo dhaweeyay Saraakiil ka tirsan Wasaaradda arrimaha dibadda Turkiga, iyo Madaxda Xafiiska Baratakoolka Raysal Wasaaraha Turkiga.

Waftiga Somaliland ka socday ayaa loo soo galbiyay Hotel ay u sii diyaarisay Xukuumadda gogosha shirka fidisay ee Turkigu.

Saaka salaadii hore waxaa Hotelka ay deganyihiin ku soo booqday kaliyaasha Wasiirka arrimaha dibadda Turkiga, iyadoo kulan kooban la qaatay Waftiga Somaliland. Intaas kadib waxaa galabta kulan ballaadhan oo hordhac u ah furitaanka Shirka bari furmaaya, la yeeshay labada dhinac ee wadahadalku u socdo Wasiirka arrimaha dibadda dalkaasi Turkiga.

Kulankan oo ay goob joog ka ahaayeen badi Saxaafadda dalka Turkiga iyo mida caalamiga ahba, wuxuu Wasiirka arrimaha dibadda Turkigu uga mahad celiyay labada dawladood ee Somaliland iyo Soomaaliya, siday u soo ajibeen isla markaana uga soo baxeen wakhtigii loo qabtay inuu qabsoomo shirkani, Sidoo kale wuxuu Wasiirka arrimaha dibaddu sheegay in isagoo ku hadlaaya afka Raysal Wasaaraha Turkiga, in dawladiisu ku faraxsantahay sii socodka wadahalka Somaliland iyo Soomaaliya.

Bari oo Axad ah waxaa jira kulamo badan oo shirka labada dhinac lagu soo anbaqadaayo, jawagi kulamada ayaa degan, in kasta oo qodobada laga wadahadlaayo ay xasaasi yihiin, dhinaca kale dawladda Turkiga ayaa si weyn looga dareemaya dadaalka iyo kulamada ay labada dhinacba la qadanayso, iyadoo shirkani uu ka adagyahay saddexdii shir ee hore.

— Kulanka Turkiga

Seconds before crash, passengers knew they were too low

Crash survivor details moment of impact

By Holly Yan and Greg Botelho, CNN

(CNN) -- Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was seconds away from landing when the passengers sensed something horribly amiss.

The plane was approaching San Francisco International Airport under a beautifully clear sky, but it was flying low. Dangerously low.

Benjamin Levy looked out the window from seat 30K and could see the water of the San Francisco Bay about 10 feet below.

"I don't see any runway, I just see water," Levy recalled.

Further back in the Boeing 777, Xu Das had the same realization.

"Looking through window, it looked on level of the (sea)wall along the runway," he posted on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter.

with no warning from the cockpit, the plane slammed onto the edge of the runway. The impact severed the plane's tail and sent the rest of it spinning on its belly.

A massive fireball and clouds of smoke shot skyward. First responders rushed to the scene as horrified onlookers at the airport terminal feared the worst.

Medics found the bodies of two Chinese girls in their mid-teens on the runway, next to the burning wreckage.

Remarkably, 305 others on the plane survived the crash Saturday morning.

"We're lucky there hasn't been a greater loss of life," San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

When rescuers arrived, they found some passengers coming out of the water.

"There was a fire on the plane, so the assumption might be that they went near the water's edge, which is very shallow, to maybe douse themselves with water," Hayes-White said.

 

While 182 of them were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from spinal fractures to bruises, another 123 managed to escape unharmed.

 

'Some jumped out or slid down emergency chutes with luggage in hand.

 

 Harrowing flight

The crash ended an otherwise mundane flight that originated in Shanghai, China. It made a connection in Seoul, South Korea, before flying 10 hours to San Francisco.

Among the 291 passengers were 141 Chinese, 77 South Koreans, 61 Americans and one Japanese, Asiana Airlines said. The airline is one of two major airlines in South Korea; the other is Korean Air.

At the helm of the plane was one of Asiana's veteran pilots who had been flying for 17 years, the airline said Sunday. Three other pilots were also on board, working in shifts.

Once the plane fell short of the runway, passengers found themselves on a roller coaster.

"I thought as the plane was landing, it looked like the pilot was trying to take off again," passenger Noni Singh said.

The airplane dipped sharply.

"And then just boom, the back end just hit and flies up in the air, " Elliott Stone, another passenger, said, "and everybody's head goes up to the ceiling."

Dark gray smoke rose from the plane as it lay on its belly, with no landing gear evident.

Its roof was charred and, in spots, gone. The back of the plane had been lopped off entirely.

Flames and smoke burst out of its windows.

"Honestly, I was waiting for the plane to ... start flipping upside down, in which case I think a lot of people would have not made it," Levy said.

"If we flipped, none of us would be here to talk about it."

Xu and his wife were among the fortunate.

"We quickly slung on luggage and grabbed our child and walked toward the back," Xu said on Weibo. "Saw the kitchen at back mostly disappeared. A huge hole -- very round. We quickly rushed out. Only after coming out did we see three of us had slight bruises."

The big question

Exactly what caused the crash could take up to two years to determine, said Choi Jeong-ho, head of South Korea's Aviation Policy Bureau.

South Korean investigators will work alongside officials from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Their first order of business: locating the plane's voice and data recorders.

The airline purchased the plane, a Boeing 777-200, in March 2006. Asiana CEO and President Yoon Young-doo said there was no engine failure, to his knowledge.

"The company will conduct an accurate analysis on the cause of this accident and take strong countermeasures for safe operation in the future with the lesson learned from this accident," Yoon said.

The survivors

Many of those who survived the crash described chalked it to divine intervention.

"I think it's miraculous that we have survived because things could have been much worse," said passenger Vedpal Singh.

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer and author of the book "Lean In," was supposed to be on Flight 2014. But she switched to a United flight, arriving about 20 minutes before the Asiana flight crashed.

"Serious moment to give thanks," she wrote on her Facebook page.

The survivors also included 26 Chinese middle school students who, the Chinese consulate in San Francisco said, were on a summer camp trip.

Not the first time

Prior to Saturday's disaster, Asiana Airlines endured two deadly crashes over the past 20 years.

In 1993, a crash near South Korea's Mokpo Airport killed 68 of the 116 people on board. The Boeing 737-500 went down in poor weather as the plane was attempting its third landing, the Aviation Safety Network said.

And in 2011, a cargo plane headed from Seoul to Shanghai slammed into the East China Sea, killing the only two people on board.

Perhaps one of the reasons so many people survived Saturday's crash was because the Boeing 777 is built so that everybody can get off the plane within 90 seconds, even if half the doors are inoperable.

Still, many questions linger.

Yoon, Asiana's president and CEO, told reporters he could not confirm many details of the crash, pending the investigation.

But he started the press conference by bowing his head in apology.

CNN's Diana Magnay, Mike Ahlers, K.J. Kwon, Kyung Lah, Amanda Watts, Jaime FlorCruz, Joe Sterling, Janet DiGiacomo, Richard Quest, Ben Brumfield, Seo Yoon-jung, Sohn Seo-hee and Dayu Zhang contributed to this report.

Egypt in crisis: ElBaradei named prime minister

CAIRO – Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was tapped Saturday to become Egypt’s interim prime minister following a military coup that overthrew the nation's president, his office announced.

CAIRO – Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was tapped Saturday to become Egypt’s interim prime minister following a military coup that overthrew the nation's president, his office announced.

The decision by interim President Adly Mahmoud Mansour, who was installed Thursday by the military, was certain to infuriate Muslim Brotherhood supporters, who are demanding that ousted President Mohamed Morsi be restored to office.

But anti-Morsi protesters, including members of the Rebel movement that organized mass protests against Morsi last week, pushed for ElBaradei to receive the job.

ElBaradei was expected to be sworn in Saturday evening.

ElBaradei, 70, was seen as a favorite due to his long-standing position as an opposition leader, first against President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in February 2011 and then against Morsi. His reputation as former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and as winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize should send a positive message to a global community increasingly alarmed by Egypt’s chaos.

But the attorney has struggled in recent days to reconcile his support for democracy and rule of law with a military coup that unseated Egypt’s first democratically elected leader. He has portrayed the coup as a “recall,” saying extraordinary measures were needed to avoid a civil war.

Islamist groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, have criticized ElBaradei -- who spent much of his life living abroad -- as a foreign agent with liberal values.

For the military, ElBaradei also represents somewhat of a risk since he is not an anonymous technocrat who could be easily manipulated or intimidated.

ElBaradei's rising influence was signaled Wednesday when he appeared alongside Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi when the commander of the armed forces went on television late Wednesday to announce that Morsi was no longer president.

Muslim Brotherhood claimed new Egyptian president is Jewish

Movement's website briefly posted an article claiming Adly Mansour, the judge named Egypt’s interim president, is part of an elaborate conspiracy involving Israel and the U.S.

Interim President Adly Mansour speaking after being sworn in at the constitutional court. Photo by AP

The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s website briefly posted an article claiming that the country’s current interim president is Jewish.

The article, which appeared Thursday on IkhwanOnline, has since been taken down; a translation is still available online. It claimed that Adly Mansour, the judge named Egypt’s interim president following the removal of Mohammed Morsi from office by the military, is Jewish.

The article claimed that Mansour is in cahoots with Israel and the United States as part of an elaborate conspiracy.

The report was released while enraged Islamists protested against the toppling of Morsi. Tens of thousands of his supporters took to the streets vowing to win his reinstatement and clashed with their opponents in violence.

Late on Friday an Interior Ministry spokesman said the deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat el-Shater, who is considered the most powerful man in the organization, was arrested.

Spokesman Hani Abdel-Latif said el-Shater and his brother were arrested at an apartment in eastern Cairo on allegations of inciting violence against protesters in recent days.