Deep freeze to last into weekend in eastern U.S.

Updated 4:02 PM ET

PORTLAND, Maine A teeth-chattering cold wave with sub-zero temperatures was expected to keep its icy grip on much of the eastern U.S. into the weekend before seasonable temperatures bring relief.

A polar air mass that's been blamed for multiple deaths in the Midwest moved into the Northeast on Wednesday, prompting the National Weather Service to issue wind chill warnings across upstate New York and northern New England.

In northern Maine, the temperature dipped to as low as 36 below zero Wednesday morning. The weather service was calling for wind chills as low as minus-45.

Play Video

Frigid weather could precede Northeast snowstorm

Keith Pelletier, the owner of Dolly's Restaurant in Frenchville, said his customers are dressed in multiple layers of clothing, and they keep their cars running in the parking lot while eating lunch. It's so cold that even the snowmobilers are staying home, he said.

"You take the wind chill at 39 below and take a snowmobile going 50 mph, and you're about double that," he said. "That's pretty cold."

The Canadian air mass also has forced schools to close, delayed commuter trains and subways and kept plumbers busy with frozen pipes. A ski resort in New Hampshire shut down on Wednesday and Thursday because of unsafe ski conditions — a predicted wind chill of 48 degrees below zero.

The coldest temperatures were expected Wednesday and Thursday, after which conditions should slowly moderate before returning to normal levels, said John Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service regional headquarters in Bohemia, N.Y. For the most part, temperatures have been around 10 to 15 degrees below normal, with windy conditions making it feel colder, he said.

For Anthony Cavallo, the cold was just another in a litany of big and small aggravations that began when Superstorm Sandy swept through his Union Beach, N.J., neighborhood and flooded his one-story house with 4 1/2 feet of water.

Still waiting for the go-ahead to rebuild, Cavallo and his family have been living in a trailer they purchased once it became clear they couldn't afford to rent.

Wednesday's frigid temperatures temporarily froze the trailer's pipes, which Cavallo's 14-year-old daughter discovered when she tried to take a shower at 4:30 a.m. Cavallo spent the morning thawing out the pipes and stuffing hay under the trailer to help insulate them.

Play Video

Deadly freeze grips Midwest

"Every day it's something, whether it's frozen pipes or getting jerked around for two months by insurance companies," the 48-year-old security system installer said. "I just kind of want to wake up one day and have no surprises."

In New York City, food vendor Bashir Babury contended with bone-numbing cold when he set up his cart selling coffee, bagels and pastries at 3 a.m. Wednesday. On the coldest of days, he wears layers of clothing and cranks up a small propane heater inside his cart.

"I put on two, three socks, I have good boots and two, three jackets," he said. "A hat, gloves, but when I'm working I can't wear gloves."

In New Jersey, some residents at a Jersey City apartment have complained about the lack of heat and hot water. One person told 1010 WINS' Steve Sandberg: "My apartment is terrible for this very cold. I have three heaters. It's terrible."

Another tenant commented: "If it's not one thing, it's the other. They cut out the gas then there's no hot water, if there's hot water, but then there's no heater. It's horrible."

In Pottsville, Pa., letter carrier Cheryl Vandermeer was stoic as she walked her route Wednesday with temperatures in the teens and wind chill in the single digits. She thankful she had a job that kept her moving, even if it was outside.

"I'm not just standing around," she said. "So for me it's cold, but it's not intolerable."

A little cold air couldn't keep Jo Goodwin, 64, of Bridgewater, N.H., off the slopes at Sugarloaf ski resort in Carrabassett Valley, Maine, where she was skiing Wednesday with her husband and her sister. The snow conditions were great and there were no lift lines.

To keep warm, she uses a toe warmer, a hand warmer, a face mask, extra underwear and an extra wool sweater. She was told the wind chill was minus 30 midway up the mountain and 50 below zero near the top.

"Sometimes," she said, "it's better not to know."

Read More..

Manti Te'o Tells Katie Couric His Emotions Were Real

Manti Te'o says that even though he was hoaxed by the supposed existence of a fake girlfriend, his inspirational story of playing through emotional pain "was all real and that's something that I can't fake."

Te'o made his comments to Katie Couric which will air the exclusive interview on Thursday.

Te'o, 21, has been alternately questioned and lampooned over his role in the hoax that led him and the public to believe that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua died of leukemia as Te'o led the Notre Dame football team to an undefeated season that culminated in the national championship game.

Te'o was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, which goes to the best college football player in the country. Couric asked the star linebacker whether the emotional "story line" of a girlfriend who died on the same day as his grandmother "helped propel you to second place in Heisman voting?"

"I don't know. I really don't know," Te'o replied.

See more exclusive previews tonight on "World News With Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline."

He was more certain, however, when Couric pressed him by pointing out that it had become "sort of a legend that you had endured this hardship and gone on to play your team and your school to victory... Did you feel like, wow, I'm getting a lot of attention for this?"

Te'o denied reveling in the attention.

Watch Katie Couric's interview with Manti Te'o and his parents Thursday. Check your local listings or click here for online station finder.

Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Disney-ABC

Manti Te'o Girlfriend Hoax: Could Alleged Scammer Be Charged? Watch Video

"I think for me the only thing I basked in was that I had an impact on people, that people turned to me and for inspiration and I think that was the only thing I focused on. You know my story I felt was a guy who in times of hardship and in times of trial really held strong to his faith, held strong to his family and I felt that that was my story," said Te'o, who is a Mormon.

Te'o said there was no acting in his emotions at the time when he thought the girl he called "Lala" had died of leukemia.

"What I went through was real. You know the feelings, the pain, the sorrow, that was all real and that's something that I can't fake," he said.

During the interview, Te'o said that he received a phone call on Dec. 6, apparently from the same woman he believed was dead, who told him she was alive. She said that her name was not Lennay Kekua, it was Leah. Teo has also said that woman sent him a different picture of herself.

Nevertheless, he again publicly mentioned his girlfriend, and her death, two days later on the day the Heisman trophy was to be awarded.

"You stuck to the script. And you knew that something was amiss, Manti," Couric said.

"Katie, put yourself in my situation. I, my whole world told me that she died on Sept. 12. Everybody knew that. This girl, who I committed myself to, died on Sept. 12," Te'o said.

"Now I get a phone call on Dec. 6, saying that she's alive and then I'm going be put on national TV two days later. And to ask me about the same question. You know, what would you do?" Te'o said.

Te'o was joined by his parents, Brian and Ottilia, in the interview.

"Now many people writing about this are calling your son a liar. They are saying he manipulated the truth, really for personal gain," Couric said to Te'o's father.

"People can speculate about what they think he is. I've known him 21 years of his life. And he's not a liar. He's a kid," Brian Te'o said with tears in his eyes.

Click here for a who's who in the Manti Te'o case.

Diane O'Meara told NBC's "Today" show Tuesday that she was used as the "face" of the Twitter account of Manti Te'o's online girlfriend without her knowledge or consent.

O'Meara said that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo used pictures of her without her knowledge in creating Kekua.

"I've never met Manti Te'o in my entire life. I've never spoke with him. I've never exchanged words with him," O'Meara said Tuesday.

Read More..

Defterios: What keeps Davos relevant

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Since the late 20th Century, the ski resort of Davos has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum


• Defterios: I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent, two months after the Berlin Wall fell


• Fall of Communism, China's opening, removal of apartheid in South Africa unfolded in the 90s
  
  


• It's the inter-play between geo-politics and business is what keeps the forum relevant

Davos (CNN) -- Veterans of Davos often refer to nature's awe-inspiring work as the Magic Mountain.

The name comes from an early 20th century novel by Thomas Mann -- reflecting on life in an alpine health retreat, and the mystery of time in this breath-taking setting.

Read more from John Defterios: Why Egypt's transition is so painful

Since the late 20th century, this ski resort has been synonymous with the World Economic Forum, which represents networking on its grandest scale.

This year nearly 40 world leaders -- a record for this annual meeting -- 2000 plus executives and it seems an equal number of people in the media, like yours truly, are in pursuit of them all. The setting is certainly more chaotic then a decade ago. The agendas of the Fortune 500 chief executives are to filled with bi-lateral meetings and back door briefings to allow for the spontaneity that made this venue unique.

Davos gets ready for leaders' gathering

HIDE CAPTION

I first came to Davos as a relatively junior correspondent in 1990, two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was arguably then, after nearly two decades in the conference business, when the forum became a fixture on the global calendar.

Quest: U.S. economy to dominate Davos 2013

I can remember, quite vividly, working out of a bunker (like we do today) in the Davos Congress Centre. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl sat side-by-side with his East German counterpart Hans Modrow. That meeting before the global community helped set the stage for monetary union, a huge unification fund for what became Eastern Germany and shortly thereafter German elections.

The early 90s at Davos were dominated by European reconstruction after the fall of communism. Former party bosses came to the forum to convince business leaders that a transition to market economics could be delivered. Boris Yeltsin made his Davos appearance during that chaotic transition from the USSR to today's Russia.

Davos 2013: New year, same old problems?

In 1992, Chinese Premier Li Peng used the setting here in the Alps to articulate plans for the country's economic opening up to the world. Not by chance, the architect of Washington's engagement with Beijing, the former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also took a high profile that year.

Again only two years later in 1994, Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres walked hand in hand on stage, holding a public dialogue leading up to the creation and recognition of the Palestinian Authority.

The World Economic Forum, as the saying goes, was positioned to be in the right place at the right time. While the author of the Magic Mountain talked about the complexity of time around World War I, in the 1990s time was compressed here.

The fall of communism, the lowering of global trade barriers, the opening up of China, the removal of apartheid in South Africa and the proliferation of the internet all unfolded in that decade.

Interactive: How's your economic mood?

As those events came together, so too did the major players as they made the journey to Davos. Michael Bloomberg, evolving as a global name in financial data and now the Mayor of New York City, sat alongside Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. U.S. President Bill Clinton outlined his party's historic move to the political center before a packed audience of global business executives.

To spice things up, rock stars and actors, as they became activists, chose the Davos platform: Bono, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Brad and Angelina would have the wealthiest and most powerful corporate titans freeze in their tracks.

Earlier this week, I walked into the main plenary hall as workers put the final touches on the stage and lighting. It is a venue which has welcomed countless political leaders and business executives, during internet booms and banking busts, in the midst of a Middle East crisis and even during the lead up to two Gulf Wars.

But that inter-play between geo-politics and business -- during the best and worst of times -- is what keeps the forum relevant. It allows this setting at the base of the Magic Mountain to endure and recreate something unique during what Mann rightly described as the ongoing complexity of our times.

Read More..

White House gives grudging welcome to debt limit plan

WASHINGTON: The White House said Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not block a Republican plan to extend government borrowing authority by three months but would prefer a longer term debt ceiling hike.

Defusing a showdown with Obama, Republican House leaders are ready to permit the government to borrow more money to meet its obligations until May 18, despite earlier demands that debt ceiling hikes be matched by spending cuts.

The move would effectively remove the debt ceiling question from a looming conflagration with Republicans on Capitol Hill over spending cuts due to come into force at the end of next month and a soon-to-expire government budget.

White House spokesman Jay Carney noted that the debt ceiling workaround still had to make it past opposition from some conservative Republican members of Congress.

"If it does and it reaches the president's desk he would not stand in the way of the bill becoming law," he said, but added that Obama did not believe it was good for the economy in general to raise the debt ceiling in "increments."

"He believes we ought to do this for longer periods of time," Carney said, adding that Congress should give Obama authority to raise the debt limit on his own if it was not up for the job.

"Having said that, what we saw happen last week was significant, in our view. The House Republicans made a decision to back away from the kind of brinkmanship that was very concerning to the markets, very concerning to business, very concerning to the American people."

The government hit its statutory US$16 trillion debt limit last year but the administration used extraordinary measures to postpone the devastating economic shock waves that would result from defaulting on its obligations until late February or early March.

The House bill would withhold salaries of members of Congress if the chamber or the Senate does not pass a fiscal 2014 budget by April 15.

The Democratic-held Senate has not voted on a budget since 2009, and the government is being funded through temporary resolutions every six months.

Democratic leaders have said they would introduce a budget plan in the coming months, and pledged to consider the debt limit bill pass the House.

Obama has repeatedly warned that he will not negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit, pointing out that it concerns money available not for fresh spending, but for debt obligations already entered into by Congress.

Some conservative Republicans expressed concern Tuesday about their leadership's plan, though the bill would still be expected to pass the House of Representatives.

Republican Representative Tim Huelskamp said he would vote no, arguing that "raising the debt ceiling for a budget to be named later" is probably something he will not be able to vote for.

Representative Thomas Massie also expressed disquiet.

"I'm still having a lot of reservations about raising the debt limit for three months clean. It's a hard thing to do," he said.

Representative David Schweikert of Arizona was also opposed, saying the vote should be a chance for Republicans to demand a budget bill that balances the budget in 10 years.

- AFP/jc

Read More..

I heard 5 or 6 shots

on your computer or on the CNN Apps for iPhone® and iPad®.

iPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

If you get CNN and HLN at home, you can watch them online and on the go for no additional chargeStart watching

Read More..

40 years ago: Cronkite breaks news of LBJ's death on TV

(CBS News) Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of former President Lyndon B. Johnson's death. The day also made television history when Walter Cronkite announced the news while talking to the former president's press secretary on the phone live on air.

On January 22, 1973, Cronkite held the phone receiver to his ear on the CBS "Evening News" and said he is talking to Tom Johnston, LBJ's top spokesman.

"Can you hold the line just a second?" Cronkite says into the receiver, before explaining that the former president died in an ambulance plane on his way to San Antonio, Texas.

CBS News anchor Scott Pelley will remember Johnson and replay the historical clip on the "Evening News" Tuesday night.

Obama Remembers Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite: The "maestro" of news
Remembering Walter Cronkite
Watch: Inside LBJ's private calls
Writer: LBJ changed "in a moment" after JFK death

Read More..

Armed Fight Led to College Lockdown Scare

A fight at a Houston college campus today resulted in a shooting that left three people injured and two others in custody, officials said.

Shots were fired on campus of the Lone Star College shortly shortly after 12:30 p.m. CT, causing the campus to go into lock down and some students to be evacuated, according to police.

Three people were injured in the gunfire, which police say stemmed from a fight that broke out between two men on campus.

Two suspects are now in police custody, according to officials. They have not yet released any details on the suspects' identities.

Oakland, Calif., Shooting at Christian School Watch Video

Two individuals with multiple gunshot wounds are in serious condition at Ben Taub Hospital, according to ABC News affiliate KTRK. The condition and whereabouts of the third injured person was not immediately known.

The campus reopened about an hour and a half after the gunshots.

When the shots were fired, the school told all students to seek "shelter in place" in messages and on their website. Officials evacuated some of the students from campus buildings.

The shooting comes only a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 students and six staff members were shot, sparking a wave of attempted copycat crimes in states like California and Indiana.

The Connecticut shooting inspired calls from government officials including President Obama for stricter gun control laws.

Read More..

How Obama made opportunity real

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• LZ Granderson: Specifics of Obama's first term may not be remembered


• He says his ability to win presidency twice is unforgettable


• Granderson: Obama, the first black president, makes opportunity real for many


• He says it makes presidency a possibility for people of all backgrounds

Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs.

(CNN) -- In his first term, President Barack Obama signed 654 bills into law, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by about 70% and the national debt by $5.8 trillion.

And in 10 years -- maybe less -- few outside of the Beltway will remember any of that. That's not to suggest those details are not important. But even if all of his actions are forgotten, Obama's legacy as the first black president will endure.

And even though this is his second term and fewer people are expected to travel to Washington this time to witness the inauguration, know that this moment is not any less important.

LZ Granderson

Obama's address: Full text

For had Obama not been re-elected, his barrier-breaking election in 2008 could have easily been characterized as a charismatic politician capturing lightning in a bottle. But by becoming the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to win at least 51% of the vote twice, Obama proved his administration was successful.

And not by chance, but by change.

A change, to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., that was not inevitable but a result of our collective and continuous struggle to be that shining city on a hill of which President Ronald Reagan spoke so often.

For much of this country's history, being a white male was a legal prerequisite to being president. Then it was accepted as a cultural norm. Because of that, we could not be the country we set out to be.

But today, somewhere in the Midwest, there is a little Asian-American girl with the crazy idea she could be president one day, and because of Obama, she knows that idea is not very crazy at all.

That's power -- the kind of power that can fade urgent numbers and debates of the day into the background of history.

Gergen: Obama 2.0 version is smarter, tougher

Few remember the number of steps Neil Armstrong took when he landed on the moon, but they remember he was the first human being who stepped on the moon. Few can tell you how many hits Jackie Robinson had in his first Major League Baseball game, but they know he broke baseball's color barrier. Paying homage to a person being first at something significant does not diminish his or her other accomplishments. It adds texture to the arc of their story.

I understand the desire not to talk about race as a way of looking progressive.

But progress isn't pretending to be color blind, it's not being blinded by the person's color.

Or gender.

Or religion.

Or sexual orientation.

Somewhere in the South, there is an openly gay high schooler who loves student government and wants to be president someday. And because of Obama, he knows if he does run, he won't have to hide.

That does not represent a shift in demographics, but a shift in thought inspired by a new reality. A reality in which the president who follows Obama could be a white woman from Arkansas by way of Illinois; a Cuban-American from Florida; or a tough white guy from Jersey. Or someone from an entirely different background. We don't know. Four years is a long time away, and no one knows how any of this will play out -- which I think is a good thing.

'Obama: We are made for this moment'

For a long time, we've conceived of America as the land of opportunity. Eight years ago, when it came to the presidency, that notion was rhetoric. Four years ago, it became a once in a lifetime moment. Today, it is simply a fact of life.

Ten years from now, we may not remember what the unemployment rate was when Obama was sworn in a second time, but we'll never forget how he forever changed the limits of possibility for generations to come.

Somewhere out West, there is an 80-year-old black woman who never thought she'd see the day when a black man would be elected president. Somehow I doubt Obama's second inauguration is less important to her.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.

Read More..

Syria car bomb kills 30, separate blast rocks capital

DAMASCUS: A suicide car bombing in central Syria killed at least 30 people on Monday, a watchdog said, also reporting a powerful blast in Damascus, as the Arab League said UN efforts to end the conflict had failed to bring even a "glimmer" of hope.

The United Nations said it would conduct a major humanitarian operation in the war-torn country, with its mission to Syria describing the need for it as "enormous," having found people in dire need of medical and alimentary aid.

Moscow, one of President Bashar al-Assad's last remaining supporters, announced it would send two planes to Lebanon to evacuate more than 100 Russians out of Syria.

The suicide bombing that targeted a building used by pro-regime militiamen in Salmiyeh, a town in the central province of Hama, killed more than 30 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

State news agency SANA also reported the blast, saying that "a terrorist suicide car bomb was detonated in the heart of Salmiyeh, leaving a number of people killed and others wounded".

The Britain-based Observatory simultaneously reported a deadly powerful explosion in Damascus's upscale Dumar neighbourhood, but gave no further details and was unable to provide an immediate death toll.

The blasts came as Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said the mission of the international peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has so far not even "yielded a glimmer of hope" to end the 22-month conflict.

The head of the 22-member bloc urged the Arab leaders to call "the UN Security Council for an immediate meeting and to issue a resolution enforcing a ceasefire to stop the bloodbath".

He also called for an "international monitoring force to make sure that fighting has stopped".

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the conflict that erupted in March 2011 as a popular uprising against the Assad regime, according to the United Nations.

The UN mission assessing the "enormous" humanitarian needs in Syria found people -- especially children -- in dire need of food, medical care and clean water, and said it would conduct a major humanitarian operation.

Martin Nesirky, spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said a team from seven humanitarian agencies visited the city of Homs and on Monday morning crossed conflict lines into Talbiyeh.

"It has to be a big UN humanitarian operation in Syria. That is what the people expect of this mission," said John Ging, director of operations for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who headed the team.

About four million Syrians, half of them driven from their homes by the fighting, are in urgent need of aid, the UN says.

Meanwhile staunch Assad ally Moscow, which has repeatedly vetoed UN resolutions to impose sanctions on Damascus, said it would send two planes to help evacuate Russian citizens from Syria via Lebanon.

Russia "will send two planes to Beirut in Lebanon so all the Russians who wish to can leave Syria," Irina Rossious, spokeswoman for the emergency situations ministry, was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

"More than 100 Russians are expected to leave Syria on board these planes," she said, without giving any more details.

On the ground, fierce fighting raged between rebels and forces loyal to Assad, including militias, as the Observatory reported the formation of a new paramilitary force of men and women, some trained by key ally Iran, to fight what is now becoming a guerrilla war.

The Observatory, which relies on activists and medics on the ground for its information, said the National Defence Army gathers together existing popular committees of pro-regime civilian fighters under a new better-trained and armed hierarchy.

The Observatory gave an initial toll of 142 people killed nationwide on Monday, including 34 civilians and the 30 killed in the Hama car bombing.

-AFP/ac

Read More..

3 Americans killed in Algeria

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: One of the 30 dead identified so far is Algerian, the nation's prime minister says


• At least 37 hostages died in terrorist attack and raids on the gas complex, Algeria says


• The militants, who were of eight nationalities, came from northern Mali


• The U.S. State Department identifies three of its citizens killed in the standoff

(CNN) -- At least 37 hostages died in the terrorist seizure of a natural gas facility in eastern Algeria and the subsequent special forces assaults on it, the country's prime minister said Monday.

Five other hostages are missing from the In Amenas complex and could be dead, Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal said.

Before Sallal's statement, officials from other countries and companies that employed foreign workers at the sprawling plant had confirmed 29 hostage deaths.

Seven of the 37 confirmed dead haven't been identified yet, according to the prime minister. Those who have been identified include one Algerian, three Americans, three Britons and six Filipinos, officials from those countries said.

Some 29 militants also died, while three were captured, Sallal said, according to the state-run Algerian Press Service.

The standoff ended Saturday, after four days, when Algerian special forces stormed the complex for the second time. The government said it did so because the militants were planning to blow up the installation and flee to neighboring Mali with hostages.

"If it exploded, it could have killed and destroyed anything within 5 kilometers or further," Sallal said.

Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after 'final' assault, officials say

Militant says Mali unrest spurred assault; others say it followed ample planning

The crisis began Wednesday when Islamist extremists in pickup trucks struck the natural gas complex some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Libyan border, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up.

After taking over, the well-armed militants planted explosives throughout the complex, Sallal said. They came from eight countries: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania.

Algeria's military talked with the militants, but their demands that prisoners in the North African nation be released were deemed unreasonable, according to the prime minister. The country's special forces waged the assaults to free the hostages and were backed by the Algerian Air Force.

Read more: Nations scramble to account for missing after Algeria hostage crisis

At one point, the militants tried to flee the compound in vehicles that carried explosives and three or four hostages as human shields, Sallal said. At least two of the vehicles flipped and exploded during the attempt, he said.

Sallal said the terrorists had entered the country from northern Mali, where Malian and French authorities are battling Islamist rebels.

One-eyed veteran Islamist fighter Moktar Belmoktar has claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking on behalf of his al Qaeda-linked group, according to Mauritania's Sahara Media news agency.

Belmokhtar said the attack was in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to battle Islamist militants in Mali. But regional analysts believe the operation was too sophisticated to have been planned so quickly, and Sallal said the hostage scheme had been hatched over months.

The targeted gas facility is run by Algeria's state oil company, in cooperation with foreign firms such as Norway's Statoil and Britain's BP. Some 790 people worked there, including 134 foreign workers, Algeria's prime minister said.

Read more: Algerian forces seek 'peaceful' settlement of dramatic, deadly hostage crisis

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday the effort to evacuate workers is complete and that U.K. officials are now focused on bringing the bodies of slain British hostages back home.

Cameron praised Algerian forces for their work in ending the crisis, despite concerns from some nations earlier that the Algerians had unnecessarily put hostages at greater risk.

"This would have been a most-demanding task for security forces anywhere in the world, and we should acknowledge the resolve shown by the Algerians in undertaking it," the British leader said. "The responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists."

Nations mourn dead, try to account for others

Here is a breakdown on the status of hostages from around the world who were involved in the crisis:

Colombia

Colombia's president said one of its citizens is presumed dead.

France

No known French hostages are unaccounted for, the defense ministry said.

A man identified as Yann Desjeux died after telling French newspaper Sud Ouest that he and 34 other hostages were treated well. It was unclear what led to his death.

Japan

Ten Japanese remain unaccounted for, according to JGC, a Yokohama-based engineering firm. Japan is sending a second team that includes doctors to the scene of the standoff. Other government officials have been at the site since last week.

Malaysia

Three hostages were on their way back home, state media reported. There is a "worrying possibility" that another is dead while a fifth is unaccounted for, the agency said.

Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps

Norway

Five Norwegians are missing, while eight are safe, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Philippines

Six Filipinos are confirmed dead and four are missing, the nation's foreign affairs ministry said. In addition, 16 Filipinos are alive and accounted for, according to a ministry spokesman.

Romania

One Romanian lost his life while four others were freed, the country's foreign ministry said.

United Kingdom

Three British citizens were killed, the Foreign Office said Sunday. Three other British nationals and a UK resident are also "believed dead," according to British officials. The Foreign Office confirmed the name of one slain hostage, Garry Barlow, in a statement Monday.

"Garry was a loving, devoted family man, he loved life and lived it to the full. He was very much loved by myself, his sons, mother and sister and the rest of his family and friends and will be greatly missed," the Foreign Office quoted his wife, Lorraine, as saying.

Twenty-two other Britons who were taken hostage have safely returned home.

United States

U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland on Monday said three Americans had been killed and identified them as Victor Lynn Lovelady, Gordon Lee Rowan, and Frederick Buttaccio, who had been previously identified.

Seven U.S. citizens survived the crisis, added Nuland, who declined to comment further citing privacy considerations.

Read more: Algeria attack may have link to Libya camps

CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.

Read More..