Midday Roundup: 'God is in control,' says woman held captive for 10 years

Hurt by people. The three Cleveland women held captive for 10 years in a house near the city’s center broke their silence today in a YouTube video. Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina DeJesus thanked the public for their support and for respecting their privacy in the two months since their escape. Knight said she didn’t want to be consumed by hate: “We need to take a leap of faith and know that God is in control. We have been hurt by people, but we need to rely on God as being the judge. God has a plan for all of us. The plan that He gave me is to help others who have been in the same situation I have been in.” Their abductor, Ariel Castro, faces hundreds of counts of kidnapping, torture, and rape for the abuse he heaped on the women during their captivity. He also faces murder charges in the deaths of several children conceived with Knight. Prosecutors allege Castro beat her until she miscarried.

Retired? Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch conservative and outspoken Christian, announced yesterday he would not seek re-election in 2014. Despite his disastrous, failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, Perry could be positioning himself for another try in 2016. Any “future considerations” will be announced “in due time and I will arrive at that decision appropriately,” he said. Perry recently rehired Mark Miner, a longtime aide and one of the advisers behind his 2012 presidential bid. Before the GOP presidential primary, Perry had never lost an election. He’s the longest serving governor in Texas history and is said to be the most powerful politician the state has seen since the Civil War. He is known for putting fiscally conservative principles into action. Texas has one of the best state economies in the nation, with a lower-than-average unemployment rate and a track record of luring businesses from across the country.

Shipwrecked trial. The trial of the captain at the helm of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground and sank off the Italian coast in 2012 was supposed to start today. But thanks to a lawyers’ strike, the proceedings have been delayed for at least a week. Francesco Schettino is charged with manslaughter, abandoning ship, and causing the shipwreck. Thirty-two passengers died in the accident. So many people are expected to attend the trial that prosecutors moved it to a 1,000-seat theater in the Tuscan provincial capital. Survivors have voiced frustration that Schettino is the only one standing trial over the incident, insisting he isn’t the only one responsible. The ship remains on its side in shallow waters off the small island of Giglio.

Celebrating life? The worldwide press is gearing up for royal baby frenzy, a celebration of life virtually unheard of in scope or magnitude. Reporters and television cameras clog the sidewalks outside London’s St. Mary’s Hospital, where any day now Britain’s Prince William and his wife, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will appear with the newest member of the royal family. The press is already bemoaning the lack of access they expect to suffer after the future king or queen arrives. Their interest in the baby would be almost touching, if it weren’t for the universal disregard for life members of the media usually display.