Ferry Disaster: Transcripts of conversation between the sinking South Korean Ferry and the Vessel Traffic Center reveal confusion about whether to send passengers into the water. An unidentified crewmember asks, “If this ferry evacuates passengers, will you be able to rescue them?”

  The VTS replies, “At least make them wear life rings and make them escape!” The same question and answer repeated as neither really answered the other. The captain, who’s been arrested, said on television yesterday he was reluctant to let passengers jump. “I bow my head in apology to the families of the victims,” he said. “The current was very strong, the temperature of the ocean water was cold, and I thought that if people left the ferry without proper judgment, if they were not wearing a life jacket, and even if they were, they would drift away and face many other difficulties.” The death toll is slowly rising as 58 bodies have been pulled from the ship. Only 174 got off alive and about 240 people are still missing. Ukraine: At least two men were killed in a gunfight that broke out at a separatist checkpoint outside the eastern city of Sloviansk, shattering an Easter truce. Moscow expressed outrage, blaming the incident on Ukrainian right-wingers. A statement says, “Russia is indignant about this provocation by gunmen, which testifies to the lack of will on the part of the Kiev authorities to rein in and disarm nationalists and extremists,” it said in a statement. The Russian foreign minister said that among burned out cars a business card was found bearing the name of the leader of “Right Sector, ” which is astoundingly convenient. World: One of Pakistan’s more prominent television anchors was shot and wounded in the city of Karachi. Gunmen opened fire on Hamid Mir’s car near the airport, hitting him three times. His life is not considered to be in danger. Mir has been the target of assassination attempts before, and Pakistan is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter. Reports say Mir had just been picked up at the airport and was on his way to do an interview at a local television station when gunmen in a car and riding motorcycles tailed him before firing. The Obit Page: Former boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, whose wrongful murder conviction became an international cause, has died at age 76. Carter spent 19 years in prison after being convicted in 1967 with his friend John Artis for three murders at a tavern in Patterson, NJ. No physical evidence or witness identifications connected the two men to the crime. As his case grew to become a political rallying point, Carter was the subject of the 1975 Bob Dylan song “Hurricane.” Carter was convicted again at a retrial in 1976, but freed in 1985 after years of appeals. 420: You might think it’s Easter Sunday, but if you do then you’re not stoned. It’s “420”, the Christmas, Kwanza, and Hanukkah for marijuana smokers. The term purportedly comes from a group of San Raphael potheads in the 1970s who set off every day at 4:20 after school looking for marijuana. Now it is celebrated on 4/20 at 4:20 pm, if possible. Don’t Bogart, my friend.

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