Ship outruns guns: "Pirates armed with grenade launchers and machine guns tried to hijack a luxury cruise liner off the east African coast Saturday, but the ship outran them, officials said. Two boats full of pirates approached the Seabourn Spirit about 100 miles off the Somali coast and opened fire while the heavily armed bandits tried to get onboard, said Bruce Good, spokesman for the Miami-based Seabourn Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival. The crew enabled the ship to escape by shifting to high speed and changing course. The 161-member crew gathered the passengers into a central lounge away from windows and decks during the attack, Good said. Norman Fisher, 55, a passenger, said the captain tried to ram one of the pirate boats in an attempt to capsize it and stop the pirates from getting aboard.... The attackers never got close enough to board the Spirit, but one crew member was injured by shrapnel, cruise line President Deborah Natansohn said.... The vessel's 151 passengers, mostly Americans with some Australians and Europeans, were unhurt. The Press Association, a British news agency, said passengers awoke to the sound of gunfire as two 25-foot inflatable boats approached.... "There were at least three rocket-propelled grenades that hit the ship, one in a stateroom," Laird wrote. "We had no idea that this ship could move as fast as it did and [the captain] did his best to run down the pirates.""


Georgia: Homeowner will not be charged in shooting: "Police will not charge a Macon man who shot a burglary suspect in the arm Friday night on Houston Avenue, Macon police said. Hubert O'Neal, 39, was shot twice in the arm and charged with burglary, according to a police report. He told police he was shot during a drive-by shooting, the report stated. The shooter, Robert Nichols, 60, told police that he saw a man in his fenced-in yard shortly before midnight Friday, the report said. Nichols told police that he followed the man to the side of the house and the man came at him, the report stated. Nichols said he shot six bullets at the man, who jumped the fence and ran away."