Family of quarry shooter relays condolences

CUPERTINO, Calif. - The family of the man who shot and killed three colleagues at a Silicon Valley cement plant and wounded six others said Saturday they are shocked and have no explanation for why the shooting happened.

In a statement, Shareef Allman's family called the incident a "horrific tragedy" and expressed their condolences to the victims and their families.

They said the Allman they knew was a loving father and good man.

"There are no words that can express how very sorry we are, or how badly we feel," the statement read.

It was released by Tony Williams, pastor of the Maranatha Christian Center in San Jose. Williams said Allman visited the church, and his family asked that Williams serve as a spokesman. He said the family members did not wish to be identified.

Allman had a son and daughter. He was shot dead by sheriff's deputies Thursday, a day after the shooting at Lehigh Southwest Cement plant, where he worked as a truck driver.

Gabor rushed to hospital in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - Zsa Zsa Gabor has been hospitalized after slipping out of consciousness at her Los Angeles-area home.

Gabor's husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, said Saturday that the actress had a high fever and was bleeding from a tube in her stomach.

Paramedics rushed Gabor from her Bel Air mansion to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.

The 94-year-old Gabor has been hospitalized repeatedly since July 2010, when she broke her hip falling from bed. Most of Gabor's right leg was amputated in January because of gangrene.

She appeared in films ranging from "Moulin Rouge" in 1952 to "Queen of Outer Space" in 1958. She also appeared on TV specials, game shows, and guest-starred on various TV series, often playing herself.

Forces gain ground in Gadhafi hometown

SIRTE, Libya - Libyan revolutionary forces claimed to have captured parts of a sprawling convention center that loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi have used as their main base in the ousted leader's hometown and were shelling the city to try to rout snipers from rooftops in their offensive aimed at crushing this key bastion of the old regime.

The inability to take Sirte, the most important remaining stronghold of Gadhafi supporters, more than six weeks after the capital fell has stalled efforts by Libya's new leaders to set a timeline for elections and move forward with a transition to democracy.

Gadhafi supporters also hold the enclave of Bani Walid, where revolutionary forces have been stymied by a challenging terrain. But the transitional leadership has said it will declare liberation after Sirte's capture because that will mean it holds all of the seaports and harbors in the oil-rich Mediterranean coastal country.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox pledged to keep up NATO airstrikes even after Sirte's fall, saying the international military action would continue as long as the remnants of the regime pose a risk to the people of Libya.

Yemen president says he wants to leave power

SANAA, Yemen - President Ali Abdullah Saleh made vague comments Saturday that he is willing to leave power in his first major speech since returning Yemen, but he gave no concrete plan for the future of the country. Yemen's opposition cast doubt that the embattled leader was serious.

It was not the first time Saleh has expressed a willingness to step down amid eight months of mass protests demanding his ouster. Still, he has repeatedly refused to resign immediately and rejected a U.S.-backed deal for him to hand over his authority.

Saleh was gravely wounded in an explosion at his presidential palace in June, after which he left to Saudi Arabia for treatment. During his absence, mediators and opposition groups sought to convince him to stay away and transfer power to his deputy- a way to launch the regional power transfer deal. Saleh declined and returned abruptly to Yemen late last month.

A violent crackdown against Saleh's opponents followed, with outright street battles in the capital Sanaa between troops loyal to Saleh's son Ahmed and dissident military units and pro-opposition tribesmen. In the meantime, the longtime leader has come under a considerable pressure from the international community to step down.

- The Associated Press