Friday, February fourteenth, the   UN says at least 22 people have been killed in a village in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Over half of those killed were children. No one has claimed responsibility for Friday’s incident but the opposition parties blame the killing on the government.

British woman 'tried to swim to cruise liner when it left port' in Portugal

A British pensioner used her handbag as a buoyancy aid during four hours stranded in Atlantic waters after leaping into the sea to catch her cruise-liner. 

Susan Brown, 65, swam 1,600ft out to sea in the hope of making it to her ship, the Marco Polo, after a row with her husband, it was claimed. 


Portuguese police believe the pensioner – who was eventually plucked to safety by a fishing boat - avoided drowning thanks to air pockets in her bag which kept her afloat. 

A photo emerged of her on Tuesday, allegedly taken of Mrs Brown earlier on Saturday when she attended a mass service in Funchal, the Madeiran capital. 

She is thought to have jumped into the water from beside Madeira Airport after mistakenly believing her husband Michael, 69, had got back on board. 

Mrs Brown, a popular figure at her local church in Dorset, was being treated for severe hypothermia yesterday.
One of the three fishermen who saved her said they initially confused her cries for help with a large local seabird called the cagarra - but heard a woman shout in English, “Help, I need your help” when they turned off the engine on their boat. 

Marlldo Freitas said the British holidaymaker looked like a survivor of the Titanic when they located her in the water using torches because she was “very confused and pale.” 

Local paper Jornal da Madeira quoted him as saying: “She was barely conscious - she’s lucky to be alive. I don’t think she would have lasted another 30 minutes.” 

Funchal port captain Felix Marques told local press that Mrs Brown had told medics that she had jumped in the sea after losing Mr Brown at the airport. 

He added: “She says that when they were at the airport, her husband told her he was getting a taxi and returning to the cruise liner but that didn’t happen and he boarded the plane.” 

"She was very lucky to survive. She was in the water for more than three hours and was suffering from the effects of hypothermia when she was rescued by fishermen who heard her cries for help around 12.20am on Sunday. 

"All she had on her was the clothes she was wearing and a handbag which she was clinging to. " 

Mr Marques, the local maritime police commander, added: "It's only a hypothesis but we think one of the reasons she may have been able to stay above water for so long was that her handbag kept her afloat. We haven't been able to speak to her yet and am not sure we will be able to now until tomorrow morning at the earliest." 

The couple had cut short a 32 day tour from West Indies on day 28 - with cruise operator Cruise & Maritime Voyages offering them flights out of the Portuguese island to fly back to Bristol on Saturday evening.

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