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April 10, 2009

Somalian pirates stop captain's escape

Per New York Times, Captain Richard Phillips who was taken hostage on Wednesday when Somailian pirates hijacked his container ship, the Maersk Alabama, attempted to escape today by jumping into the Indian Ocean from "their slow-moving lifeboat".

Captain Phillips remained in the water for a short period of time before the pirates "hauled him back on board," per the Times.

U.S. Twitterers responded with their prayers and thoughts.

nomadderwhere (Indianapolis, Ind.) The captain obtained by Somalian pirates is a best friend's neighbor. Lesson: pirates are crazy and REAL...and the Kevin Bacon law applies. 10 Apr 2009 from web

jubchuqun (Undisclosed) The Somalian Pirates renigged on their prisoner exchange and kept the American Captain. Duh! They're Pirates! 09 Apr 2009 from TwitterFox

bettynguyencnn (Atlanta, Ga.) A U.S. Captain held hostage by Somali pirates. He tries to escape but fails. What next - how should the U.S. respond? 10 Apr 2009 from web

pw9r (Seattle, Wash.) Captain Phillips tries to escape Somali pirates is recaptured. Somalia has a black shadow of shame hanging over its head. 10 Apr 2009 from web

FlashBack1968 (San Antonio, Texas) Please keep Captain Richard Phillips in prayer since he heroically put himself in harms way to save his crew. 10 Apr 2009 from web

LaniThinksSo (New Orleans, La.) How can pirates call for back-up? Very scary. Prayers for Richard Phillips. 10 Apr 2009 from twitterrific

Fiji placed in emergency rule

Per Radio New Zealand, military leader Frank Bainimarama was reinstated as Prime Minister on Saturday, regaining control of the government for the second time and placing a "firm grip" on his rule of the nation.

Public Emergency Regulations were put into place on Friday, effectively putting the nation in emergency rule in which all media organizations will be monitored closely by the government, per the article.

Few tweets from Fiji itself could be found, but one university student in Fiji's capital Suva downplayed the news.

bhavinm (Suva, Fiji) RT @FijiLomalagi : http://twitpic.com/34n7b - Here's what "turmoil and chaos" look like in Fiji today! 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

bhavinm (Suva, Fiji) @aMMPh Unharmed? You' talking like we're going to get killed or something. Intl.media has overhyped the real situation. We are perfctly safe 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to aMMPh

Twitterers in nearby New Zealand expressed their opinions on the developments.

dominotheory (Auckland, New Zealand) Yet another too-short coverage of a serious issue in Fiji on channel one news. 10 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

lewavesi (Auckland, New Zealand) is appalled with the political monkey antics going on in Fiji... 10 Apr 2009 from Ping.fm

toxaq (Auckland, New Zealand) Feeling sorry for Fiji. What a mockery of democracy. 10 Apr 2009 from web

Other Twitterers around the world spoke of the nation in tourist terms.

BlueRidgeblog (Valle Crucis, N.C.) Kinda ruins the vacation plans: RT @BreakingNews: BULLETIN -- FIJI'S PRESIDENT ILOILO DECLARES A STATE OF EMERGENCY &EXTENDS POLICE POWER. 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

jdarrah (Edmonton, Canada) Fiji is right now putting the banana in banana republic. Shame - another coup in one of the nicest countries I've ever visited. 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterBerry

steeben (Toronto, Canada) really such a shame about Fiji. one of the nicest places i've visited, but, it is not without a tumultuous past. http://snipr.com/fnp1e 11 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Featured TwitPic: Early morning moon in Cape Town, South Africa

"Please enjoy this moon at 7am" (Posted by @2oceansvibe, Cape Town, South Africa, April 10, 2009)

Tornadoes touch down in Nashville area

Per The Murfreesboro Post, multiple tornadoes were spotted in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Friday afternoon, according to eyewitness accounts and emergency personnel.

Murfreesboro is about 30 miles from Nashville. A tornado was also reported in Western Kentucky, per The Kentucky Post.

Several Twitterers in Murfreesboro confirmed the tornadoes, and provided live tweets during the storm.

andde I just walked my ass in walmart and they said they are under tornado warning. I said hell nah and left.. the weather crazy I'm soaked haha 10 Apr 2009 from twidroid

phillipmaddox I saw the tornado dude. It was freakin huge. We got super lucky. They shut down 24 over here. Cars flipped with people in them 10 Apr 2009 from txt

lisasasse A tornado just hit the neighborhood behind our house, thank God for His protection! 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

metonymy4sale . .another tornado just tore through murfreesboro . houses are 'gone' . absolute chaos ... 10 Apr 2009 from web

some_coreopsis They're saying at least ten houses were destroyed by the tornado. Not my area of town, thank the Lord. All is safe out here. 10 Apr 2009 from web

brandon_felder Again, for those wondering. Yes, I am fine. I did see the tornado out front of my work place which was awesome and scary. 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterBerry

Several twitterers in Murfreesboro found out about the tornadoes through sirens.

semicaustic Crap. Are those tornado sirens?! I can't tell. I don't know what they sound like! But it doesn't sound like anything else I've heard. 10 Apr 2009 from txt

natetallman Tornado sirens going of. I'm out and about. 10 Apr 2009 from TinyTwitter

zhak just woke up to tornado sirens! o_O Woooooo! 10 Apr 2009 from web

scottiemills just heard the sirens go off in Murfreesboro and a guy say "SEEK SHELTER NOW!" If I never see you tweets again.. I love you. 10 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

Some tweeted a link to a YouTube video with footage of one tornado:

Boys outnumber girls in China by 32 Million

Per the Wall Street Journal, 32 million more boys than girls populate China due to its selective abortion practices. The imbalance is likely to continue for decades, per the article.

Twitterers express concerns over the large gender gap.

AnnKatrin_B (Germany) 32 million more boys than girls in China according to Swedish news today. Going to mean trouble when they grow up and want to settle down 10 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

TheLostSwede (Taipei, Taiwan) @riceagain 32 million more boys than girls in China... nice going... at least there will be less people in a couple of generations... 10 Apr 2009 from JournoTwit.com in reply to riceagain

MortgageMark (Vancouver, B.C.) 32 million more boys than girls in China. Why : ( 10 Apr 2009 from web