Anthony Mitchell

AP reporter who covered Africa with passion dies in plane crash returning from assignment

By CHRIS TOMLINSON
Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Anthony Mitchell, among the 114 people that an official said were killed in a plane crash over the weekend in Cameroon, was a dogged Associated Press correspondent from Britain with a passion for Africa and for uncovering challenging stories. He had been on assignment to investigate the criminal trade in endangered species for food.

Mitchell, 39, had just spent a week in the Central African Republic, where he visited markets that sold elephant meat and chimps and gorillas to international smugglers. His stories were to be published before an international conference on the topic next month.

"We are all devastated," said Catherine Fitzgibbon, his wife, in a statement on behalf of Mitchell's family. "Anthony was a fantastic father, husband and son. He was the life and soul of every party with a wonderful dry wit and a great sense of humor. He lived life to the full and died doing the job he loved."

Mitchell made global headlines last month with his in-depth investigation into the illegal detention and transfer of terror suspects from Kenya to Somalia and eventually into Ethiopian prisons. His work forced U.S. and Ethiopian officials to acknowledge a program that until then had led to the secret detention of dozens of people, including women and children.

Human rights groups praised the story, which won an internal AP award for breaking news, but it was stridently criticized by the Ethiopian government as coming from an "ivory tower" where the war on terror was not understood. It was not the first time Mitchell's stories angered Ethiopian authorities.

During the May 2005 election, Mitchell repeatedly uncovered government efforts to influence the vote's outcome and obtained secret European Union reports that detailed allegations of rigging.

In January 2006, the Ethiopian government expelled him for what it called hostile reporting. The expulsion was roundly condemned by press freedom groups around the world. He became a staff reporter for AP in the Nairobi bureau the following August.

On Sunday, contributors to Ethiopian political Web sites posted tributes to Mitchell, praising him as a dedicated journalist who courageously reported the truth.

"Anthony was an extraordinarily talented and dedicated journalist," said AP President and CEO Tom Curley. "His loss will be deeply felt at AP and to anyone who cares about Africa and its future."

"He was one of our top reporters in Africa," said John Daniszewski, the AP international editor in New York. "We will never forget the sacrifice he made and the courage he showed in Ethiopia and on his other assignments."

Mitchell was born in Chertsey, England and moved to Africa in 2001 with Fitzgibbon to work and live in Ethiopia where she was an aid worker. He soon became one of the most widely respected journalists in the country.

He first contributed to the Associated Press in 2001 and as a freelancer in Ethiopia also contributed to The Times of London, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent. He became AP's Ethiopia correspondent in 2003.

Before moving to Ethiopia, he worked for the Daily Express from 1996-2001, covering international affairs, particularly the conflicts in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Mitchell covered London courts and national news events for the National News Agency in London from 1995-1996. His first journalism job began in 1993, as a reporter for The Richmond and Twickenham Times.

Mitchell graduated from York University in 1993, where he studied philosophy and politics.
"Wherever he has worked in the world he has made new friends and earned respect for acts of personal kindness and his professional integrity," Fitzgibbon said. "Anthony also had a very gentle, caring side; he was devoted to his family and our two gorgeous children."

He is survived by Fitzgibbon, son Tom, 3, daughter Rose, 1, parents John and Jackie Mitchell and his sister Jo Jotischky.

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May 8, 2007

asap LEGACY: Remembering a fallen colleague

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May 9, 2007

International investigation, grim recovery continue at Cameroon plane crash site

By SLOBODAN LEKIC
Associated Press Writer

DOUALA, Cameroon (AP) -- U.S. aviation experts conferred with their Kenyan and Cameroonian counterparts Wednesday in an international effort to determine what caused a Kenya Airways jet to crash into a central African swamp and kill all 114 aboard.

The Americans, from the National Transportation Safety Board, were meeting with the African experts in preparation for their contribution to the investigation, said Lonnie Kelley, the U.S. Embassy spokesman in Cameroon. Experts from Boeing, which made the 737-800 that crashed Saturday, also were expected.

Evanson Mwaniki, Kenya Airways chairman, said the company was also bringing in British forensic and DNA specialists and equipment to help identify bodies. Bodies were being found in pieces and badly decomposed after more than 40 hours in the water, making the "identification process more complicated and time consuming," Mwaniki said.

Kenya Airways officials said Wednesday that the remains of 81 of those aboard had been recovered so far.

Kenya Airways chief Pilot James Ouma told a Nairobi news conference on Tuesday that the Kenyan crash investigators at the site now believe Flight 507 crashed about 30 seconds after takeoff. Officials in Cameroon had said earlier that they lost contact with the aircraft 11-13 minutes into flight. The investigation has just begun, and the discrepancy could not immediately be explained.

Kenyan officials also said Tuesday they would like the flight data recorder, which was discovered Monday, to be examined in Canada, but acknowledged the decision would be made by Cameroon. Officials in Cameroon refused to say whether there was any conflict with Kenya over the flight recorder or crash investigation.

Kenyan officials said Wednesday there was no tension between the two countries, and that they had confidence in the efforts of Cameroonians leading the recovery effort and investigation.

It took nearly two days to find the wreckage, most of it submerged in murky orange-brown water and concealed by a thick canopy of trees. For reasons that have yet to be explained, the plane stopped emitting signals after an initial distress call, slowing the search.

At the crash site, one team gathered personal effects and a second was dedicated to recovering human remains. The stench of death and spilled fuel permeated the air.
Xavier Clotaire Noa, a Cameroonian firefighter acting as foreman of the search, said the muddy hole where the plane fell was inundated with water.

"We tried to empty it a few times but the water keeps coming back in," he said Tuesday.
Flight 507, a six-month-old Boeing 737-800, had taken off an hour late because of storms. A source close to the airline's investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said Monday the early investigation focused on a theory the plane lost power in both engines, perhaps because of the storm, and did not have enough altitude to glide back to the airport.

Ouma, the Kenya Airways pilot, noted that the wreckage was found on the flight path and close to the airport. Procedures for losing all power in an aircraft call for the pilot to try to return to the airport along the same path. The plane also crashed nose-first, consistent with a plane stalling as a pilot desperately tried to coax it along the glide path.

Among the 105 passengers was Nairobi-based Associated Press correspondent Anthony Mitchell, 39, who had been on assignment in the region. Nine crew members also were on board.

While air travel in Africa is notoriously perilous, Kenya Airways is considered one of Africa's safest airlines. The last crash of an international Kenya Airways flight was on Jan. 30, 2000, when Flight 431 was taking off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on its way to Nairobi. Investigators blamed a faulty alarm and pilot error for that crash, which killed 169 people.

On the Net:
http://www.kenya-airways.com

___

Some recent plane crashes in Africa

By The Associated Press

-- May 5, 2007: A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 carrying 114 people crashes in a remote rainforest in southern Cameroon while on its way to Nairobi, Kenya.

-- Oct. 29, 2006: A Nigerian Boeing 737-2B7, owned by Aviation Development Co., crashes in bad weather, one minute after taking off from the capital, Abuja. Ninety-six of the 105 people aboard are killed, including Muhammadu Maccido, the spiritual leader to tens of millions of Nigerian Muslims.

-- April 10, 2006: A Kenyan military plane carrying politicians to a peace conference crashes while attempting to land in Marsabit, 280 miles northeast of the capital, Nairobi, killing 14 people, including two cabinet ministers.

-- Dec. 10, 2005: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 crashes while trying to land in stormy weather near Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The plane, which was ferrying dozens of children home from a Jesuit boarding school for Christmas, was carrying 110 people, 107 of whom died.

-- Oct. 22, 2005: A Belleview Airlines Boeing 737-200 crashes in the Nigerian bush during a lightning storm, killing all 117 people aboard.

-- Sept. 9, 2005: An Air Kasai Antonov-26 crashes 30 miles north of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, killing 13 people.

-- May 25, 2005: A Russian-made Antonov-12 crashes shortly after take off near Bunyakiri, a village in eastern Congo, killing all 26 people aboard.

Bancroft family split on meeting Murdoch: report

LONDON (Reuters) - Some Bancroft family members want to meet Rupert Murdoch to discuss News Corp.'s (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research $5 billion offer for Dow Jones & Co. Inc. (DJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday.

The FT said that while some members of the Bancroft family, which holds 64.2 percent of the voting stock in Dow Jones, oppose selling to News Corp at any price, others have expressed a willingness to hear Murdoch's pitch.

On May 1, News Corp. said it wanted to buy Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones for $60 per share in a deal that would make media mogul Rupert Murdoch a major player in global financial news.

The Clinton Foundation Urban Enterprise Initiative

The William J. Clinton Foundation’s Urban Enterprise Initiative (UEI) helps small business owners and entrepreneurs compete in the increasingly competitive inner city marketplace and contribute to the economic growth and progress of their communities. Since 2002, the UEI has provided more than 65,000 hours of pro bono technical assistance worth more than $14 million in professional services to New York City small business owners and entrepreneurs.

CONSULTING PROGRAM

The UEI’s Consulting Program provides clients with a pro bono consulting team for approximately 12 months. The team works with the business owner to address critical business issues ranging from financial and operations management to marketing and strategy. Consulting team members are drawn from organizations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the National Association of Black MBAs. Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP provides pro bono legal assistance.

EMERGING ENTREPRENEURS PROGRAM

In partnership with Inc. magazine, the UEI’s Emerging Entrepreneurs program provides clients with a mentor drawn from Inc.’s national network of successful entrepreneurs. Over approximately 9 months, the pair identifies and addresses issues critical to the entrepreneur’s professional development and success and/or the business’s growth and success.

How to Apply

The UEI seeks high potential New York City entrepreneurs and small business owners interested in participating in a high impact and very challenging program to improve their business.

To be considered for the 2007-2008 Consulting Program, please submit an application by May 15, 2007.

To be considered for the 2007-2008 Emerging Entrepreneurs Program, please submit an application by June 15, 2007.

Read more detailed information about UEI programs before you apply.

View participant information session details.

Submit your application online.

How to Volunteer

Volunteers to assist in the Consulting Program and Emerging Entrepreneurs Program also are needed. Please submit an application by May 16, 2007.

Read volunteer job description.

View volunteer information session details.

Submit volunteer application form online.

www.clintonfoundation.org

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"Spider-Man 3" still rules worldwide box office

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Spider-Man kept up his box office heroics for a second weekend, as the worldwide total for the third film in the superhero trilogy hit $622 million, the film's distributor said on Sunday.

In its second weekend of release, "Spider-Man 3" sold an estimated $145.5 million worth of tickets, split between $60 million for North America and $85.5 million internationally, said Columbia Pictures.

The worldwide lead is likely to change next weekend when "Shrek the Third" opens and then again the following weekend when "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" sets sail.

Reuters Pictures

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"Spider-Man 3" enjoyed a wide margin in North America over the two new releases that rounded out the top three: the zombie thriller "28 Weeks Later" with a disappointing $10 million, and the latest Lindsay Lohan flop "Georgia Rule" with $5.9 million.

After 10 days, the North American total for "Spider-Man 3" stands at $242.1 million. By contrast, 2004's "Spider-Man 2" had earned $256 million after two weekends, and 2002's "Spider-Man" $223 million. ("Spider-Man 2" got a two-day head start, opening on a Wednesday.)

The latest film suffered a steep 60 percent drop from its first weekend, compared with 49 percent for "Spider-Man 2" and 38 percent for "Spider-Man." Columbia said it was comfortable with the slide given the film's record-breaking $151 million first weekend. The previous holder of that record, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," fell 54 percent last year.

The Sony Corp.-owned studio said "Spider-Man 3" cost $258 million to produce, with sources estimating that prints and advertising adding about $125 million to the bill. The box office pot is split roughly between the studio and movie theater owners, according to a complex formula.

As with its predecessors, "Spider-Man 3" stars Tobey Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and Kirsten Dunst as his disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs. A fourth film is in the early stage of development.