BA: The biggest luggage losers

LONDON, England (CNN) -- British Airways has apologized to passengers after a report revealed the airline lost more luggage than all other major European airlines last year.

BA misplaced 23 bags per 1,000 passengers carried in 2006 -- the worst figure in a list of 24 airlines who are members of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

The UK's Air Transport Users Council (AUC), which released the figures Wednesday, said BA had told the council its performance on bags last year was unacceptable and it apologized to customers.

The AUC also detailed past cases of lost luggage and various airlines' failure to meet the desired service standards.

In one case a passenger's mobility scooter was damaged in transit and she paid £263 ($519) to have it repaired. Spending weeks coping without it, she was offered only £25 ($49) by the unnamed airline in compensation.

The AUC and AEA baggage figures for 2006 showed that more than 5.6 million bags went missing among the 24 airlines -- an average of 15.7 bags per 1,000 passengers.

Among those airlines that had worse-than-average figures were BA, Lufthansa of Germany, Air France, Italy's Alitalia and KLM of the Netherlands (now merged with Air France).

The AEA stated 85 percent of misplaced bags were returned to passengers within 48 hours, indicating about one million items took longer than two days to reach their owners and some "never got returned at all."

In response to the findings BA said: "We accept that our levels of service have not been up to an acceptable standard and we fully apologize to customers who have been affected by delayed baggage in the past year.

Study: Sudden sea level surges threaten 1 billion

More than 1 billion people live in low-lying areas where a sudden surge in sea level could prove as disastrous as the 2004 Asian tsunami, according to new research presented on Thursday.

New mapping techniques show how much land would be lost and how many people affected by rapid sea level rises that are often triggered by storms and earthquakes, a U.S. Geological Survey-led team determined.

E. Lynn Usery, who led the team, said nearly one-quarter of the world's population lives below 100 feet above sea level

"What we are suggesting is what kind of areas are at risk (in) a catastrophic event," Usery told a meeting of the Association of American Geographers.

"The fact that there are that many people living at that sea level means there are probably a lot of people potentially in harm's way."

The team also found that a 100-foot rise in sea level would cover 3.7 million square miles of land worldwide.

A rise of just 16 feet would affect 669 million people and 2 million square miles of land would be lost.

Sea levels are currently rising about 0.04 to 0.08 inches each year, making it unlikely such a scenario would suddenly occur across the globe, Usery said.

But he said 10,000 years ago sea levels rose 20 meters in 500 years -- a relatively short span -- after the collapse of the continental ice sheets.

"It can happen in a short period of time if we look at the historical da
ta," Usery said.

More importantly, he said, the new mapping technique provides detail that was previously unavailable and gives policymakers better tools to prepare for potential disasters. With just a mouse click on the computer, researchers can gauge how much land would be lost at various sea levels, and where.

The team developed its own mapping projection software and then plugged in U.S. Geological Survey data on population, elevation and different types of land cover.

Even though people know low-lying areas like the Netherlands or many parts of Asia are at risk of flooding, many do not realize just how big a risk they are facing.

"A 30-meter surge in Florida would leave the whole state covered except for a little plateau area," Usery said.

Ronaldo and Drogba vying for award

FA Cup final opponents Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo are on the six-man shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year award.
Two other United players, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, are included, along with Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who won last year.
The award will be presented next Sunday and the 22-year-old Ronaldo, who has scored 21 goals in helping United to the top of the Premiership and semifinals of the Champions League, as well as the FA Cup final at Wembley, is many people's idea of the winner.
"Cristiano is the most exciting player in the country at the moment -- the quickness of his feet and the skills he possesses make you think, at times, that he is from another planet," said PFA chief executive Taylor.
Ivory Coast striker Drogba, who could also line-up against United in the Champions League final, has strong claims too, having already topped 30 goals for the season in which his club has already lifted the League Cup and still retain high hopes of success in three other competitions.
"Didier has, arguably, been Chelsea's best and most consistent performer this season -- no mean achievement when he is playing alongside so many top-class players at Stamford Bridge," said Taylor.
Ronaldo and the 19-year-old Fabregas are also amongst the nominations for the Young Player of the Year award, alongside Rooney, the winner of that honor for the last two seasons.
Scholes and Giggs have both recaptured their best form in United's outstanding season and Gerrard has been a key figure as Liverpool have again showed themselves to be accomplished performers in Europe, reaching the last four in the Champions League, where they will tackle Chelsea.

A sneak peek at the new `Shrek`

Time to catch up with your ogre friend Shrek, his greenish bride, Fiona, and their two men Friday, the yammering Donkey and the overreaching Puss in Boots.

The filmmakers behind "Shrek the Third" offered a sneak peek at their PDI-DreamWorks animation complex near San Francisco.

From the 20 minutes of footage they showed, the film looks likely to meet expectations as one of summer's hottest tickets.

Key voice stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas return, with Justin Timberlake headlining the newcomers as geeky teenager Artie.

"You feel you've got a lot to live up to, man," Timberlake said about being the new kid on the block in the Shrek world. "Every character is so good. When you come into 'Shrek,' you definitely feel you have a lot to prove."

Here's a rundown of the players and their exploits for the film that hits theaters May 18.

The whole gang returns, led by the key foursome of Shrek (Myers), Donkey (Murphy), Fiona (Diaz) and Puss in Boots (Banderas).

Shrek's still barking at everyone in his Scottish brogue, though married life brings out his softer side more and more.

"What I love about the Scottish people, which is part of my heritage, is they go from, 'I love you, come here,' to 'You get out of my house!' " Myers said. "Scottish people are hilarious when they're angry. They shift gears so fast."

Also back: Fiona's mom, Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews, who in a dizzy moment hums "My Favorite Things," a tune she sang in "The Sound of Music"); King Harold (John Cleese); villainous Prince Charming (Rupert Everett); and ugly stepsister Doris (Larry King).

It wouldn't be a "Shrek" movie without all those goofy bit players, including the three little pigs, Pinocchio and the Gingerbread Man. The minor characters were so much fun, the filmmakers said they had to reign them in or they might have taken over.

Killer`s manifesto: `You forced me into a corner`

Cho Seung-Hui said Monday's massacre on the Virginia Tech campus could have been avoided and said "you forced me into a corner," in a videotaped message he mailed to NBC News.
NBC News reported that Cho mailed the package at 9:01 a.m. Monday -- during the two hours between the shootings at the West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory and the shootings at Norris Hall.
"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today," Cho said in one of the videos that aired Wednesday night on NBC. "But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off." (Watch Cho's menacing last messages )
In another video broadcast on NBC, Cho told the camera "When the time came I did it, I had to."
Cho spoke about the shootings in the past tense, but it is unclear when the video messages were recorded.

MSNBC.com reported that Cho also discussed "martyrs like Eric and Dylan" apparently referring to Columbine High School gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people and themselves on April 20, 1999.
Cho railed against the wealthy and other unnamed enemies in the angry messages.
"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust fund wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac weren't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything," MSNBC.com quoted Cho as saying.
The package included an 1,800 word statement described as "a manifesto" and 27 QuickTime videos showing Cho Seung-Hui talking to the camera and discussing religion and his hatred of the wealthy, MSNBC.com reported. (Interactive: Cho's manifesto)
It also included several photographs of Cho posing and pointing handguns at the camera.
At least one photograph showed Cho pointing a pistol at his head. Another showed Cho holding a knife to his throat.
The package was sent by overnight mail, but did not arrive until Wednesday because the address and Zip code were wrong.
"This may be a very new critical component of this investigation," State Police Col. Steve Flaherty said.
When the network received the package, it immediately notified authorities and the original documents were sent to the FBI for analysis, Flaherty said.
CNN also learned Wednesday that in 2005 Cho was declared mentally ill by a Virginia special justice, who declared he was "an imminent danger" to himself, a court document states.
A temporary detention order from General District Court in the commonwealth of Virginia said Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness."

Witness survives by pretending to be dead

BLACKSBURG, Virginia (CNN) -- A gunman who killed at least 30 people in one of two shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech Monday was dressed "almost like a Boy Scout," said a student who survived by pretending to lie dead on a classroom floor.
"He just stepped within five feet of the door and just started firing," said Erin Sheehan who was in one of the Norris Hall classrooms where the second shooting incident took place.
Sheehan described the gunman -- who later shot and killed himself according to police -- as a young man wearing a short-sleeved tan shirt and black ammunition vest.
"He seemed very thorough about it -- getting almost everyone down -- I pretended to be dead," she said. (Student survives by playing dead )
"He was very silent," said Sheehan, one of only four students in her 25-student German class who were not shot.
The gunman left but returned in about 30 seconds. "I guess he heard us still talking," said Sheehan.
"We forced ourselves against the door so he couldn't come in again, because the door would not lock."
The man tried three more times to force his way in and then began firing through the door, she said.
Student Tiffany Otey was taking a test inside Norris Hall when the shooting began. She and about 20 other people took refuge behind a locked door in a teacher's office.
Police officers with bulletproof vests and machine guns were in the area.(Watch a student's recording of police responding to loud bangs )
"They were telling us to put our hands above our head and if we didn't cooperate and put our hands above our heads they would shoot," Otey said. "I guess they were afraid, like us -- like the shooter was going to be among one of us." (Watch students react to shooting )
Some students leaped from windows to escape said Matt Waldron.
"These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top-story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."
The shooter attacked more than one classroom at Norris Hall, according to police. The death total there -- 31 including the gunman -- makes it the deadliest shooting in U.S. history.

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