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Cruise From Hell Finally Arrives In Alabama After Five Days Adrift In Sea Of Raw Sewer

CBS NEWS, USA TODAY, REUTERS (USA)

Worldcrunch

MOBILE – Ill-fated Carnival cruise ship Triumph finally docked in Mobile, Alabama late Thursday, after being stranded for five days in the Gulf of Mexico without any power supply.

Four hours later, the last remaining passengers had disembarked and been taken to hotels in New Orleans and Texas, reports CBS News.

Passengers exited the 14-story Triumph by using its one functioning elevator. They could be seen cheering and waving to family and friends waiting on shore, reports USA Today.

"Sweet Home Alabama!" read one of the homemade signs passengers affixed alongside the ship.

Operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, the ship left Galveston, Texas a week ago, according to Reuters, carrying 3,142 passengers and 1,086 crewmembers. It was supposed to return there on Monday but turned into the cruise from hell after an engine room fire knocked out power and plumbing, leaving the cruise ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

Toilets overflowed, soaking cabins and corridors in raw sewage, forcing passengers to establish a “shanty-town” on the deck:

[rebelmouse-image 27086306 alt="""" original_size="640x640" expand=1]

From Clarkaj, Instagram

On a robe: "I survived #Triumph"s red bags overflowing toilets & flooded rooms" "Great crew" though! (pic @bigphil32) twitter.com/moneyries/stat…

— Brian Ries Verified! (@moneyries) 14 février 2013

Oh dear. #Triumph#thanksfortheclarification @9newstwitter.com/CherylPreheim/…

— Cheryl Preheim (@CherylPreheim) February 15, 2013

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Israel

Bibi Blinked: Can Netanyahu Survive After Backing Down On Judicial Putsch?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu has backed down in the 11th hour on his plans to push forward on a major judicial reform bill that had sparked massive protests.

Bibi Blinked: Can Netanyahu Survive After Backing Down On Judicial Putsch?
Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

Benjamin Netanyahu played the sorcerer's apprentice and lost. By announcing Monday night the suspension of his judicial reform, which has deeply divided Israeli society and brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the nation's streets, he signed his defeat.

One thing we know about the Israeli prime minister is that he has not said his last word: the reform is only suspended, not withdrawn. He promised a "real dialogue" after the Passover holiday.

Netanyahu is not one to back down easily: he had clearly gone too far, first by allying himself with extreme right-wing forces from the fringes of the political spectrum; but above all by wanting to change the balance on which the Jewish State had lived since its foundation in 1948. His plans threatened to change the nature of the state in a patently "illiberal" direction.

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