pirates

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British Pirate Captives Beg for Help

Death looms without ransom

(Newser) - A British couple abducted by pirates as they sailed off Africa are pleading for help before they're killed. Rachel Chandler, seized three months ago and held separately from her husband, Paul, in Somalia, begged for aid in a phone call to British TV after the pirates vowed to kill them...

Bickering Pirates Shoot Each Other Over $7M Ransom

Somalis had called on antipiracy force to fend off rivals

(Newser) - At least three Somali pirates have been killed fighting over the biggest ransom in the history of piracy. A gun battle broke in out the pirate haven of Harardhere last night after a record $7 million was paid to secure the release of the Greek supertanker Maran Centaurus, its $150...

Fishermen Hook Silver Lining in Pirate Crisis

Fish stocks soar after bandits scare away illegal trawlers

(Newser) - The fishermen of Kenya and Somalia are enjoying their best catches in many years thanks to Somali pirates scaring away illegal trawlers. Before piracy became a problem, commercial fishing vessels from around the world took advantage of Somalia's lack of an effective government to raid its waters, reaping vast numbers...

Ships Take Up Arms Against Pirates
 Ships Take Up Arms 
 Against Pirates 
AHOY, MATEY
Jan 5, 2010 6:16 AM CST

Ships Take Up Arms Against Pirates

Maritime tradition fades amid rise in attacks

(Newser) - The maritime tradition of commercial shipping going unarmed is being abandoned in the face of the threat from Somali pirates. Shipping firms are hiring teams of guards—from $25,000 up—for the passage through the Gulf of Aden. Insurers are offering steep discounts to ships packing heat and security...

Somali Pirates Seize 2 More Ships

Cargo ship and chemical tanker make 4 taken this week

(Newser) - Pirates hijacked two more ships—a British cargo ship and an Indonesian chemical tanker—off the coast of Somalia yesterday, officials said this morning, bringing to four the number seized this week, despite an international naval armada aimed at protecting shipping in the area. The latest targets were the UK-flagged...

Texas Tech Suspends Coach Over Abuse Allegation

Mike Leach allegedly had injured WR isolated in dark, empty room

(Newser) - Texas Tech has suspended football coach Mike Leach after allegations from a player that Leach ordered him placed in dark, solitary confinement in the wake of a concussion. A source tells ESPN that after sophomore receiver Adam James—son of Craig, a standout college and pro running back and now...

Somali Pirates Hijack Oil Tanker Heading to US

Crude oil poses threat to security, environment

(Newser) - Somali pirates seized a tanker carrying crude oil in the increasingly dangerous waters off East Africa yesterday, an attack that could pose a huge environmental or security threat to the region. The Greece-flagged Maran Centaurus, a large crude carrier with a capacity of 300,000 tons, was hijacked off the...

Pirates Holding 12-Year-Old Girl for Ransom

Released hostage says he saw child, other women aboard vessel

(Newser) - A just-released pirate hostage says the Somalian scallywags are holding a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl captive aboard the British ship Ariana. Captain Ricardo Blach, whose ship, the Alakrana, was released last week after six weeks of captivity, says the pirates at one point brought him aboard the Ariana, where he met...

Maersk Alabama Repels 2nd Pirate Attack

Attempted takeover repelled by guards

(Newser) - Somali pirates today attacked the Maersk Alabama for the second time in seven months, but guards on board the US-flagged cargo ship repelled the takeover attempt. When pirates attacked with automatic weapons early this morning about 350 nautical miles east of the Somali coast, guards on board the craft fired...

Somali Pirates Demand $7M Ransom for UK Couple

Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago

(Newser) - The British couple abducted from their yacht at gunpoint are being held for $7 million ransom, a rep for the Somali pirates who kidnapped them said today. Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago in the Indian Ocean. "NATO operations had a lot of negative impact here,...

How Skulls Took Over Fashion

 How Skulls 
 Took Over 
 Fashion 
SLIDESHOW
Oct 30, 2009 11:08 AM CDT

How Skulls Took Over Fashion

Once scary, now stylish, skulls are trendy—and not just at Halloween

(Newser) - Skulls, once seen as sinister symbols, are now used on everything from children's shirts to underwear. Sara Dickerman of Slate takes a look at how the trend developed:
  • In the 16th century, artists like Albrecht Dürer were still using skulls to remind people of their mortality.
  • French pirate Emanuel
...

UK Yacht Couple 'OK' With Somali Pirates

'We are well,' Paul Chandler says by phone

(Newser) - A British couple taken from their yacht by Somali pirates say they’re in good condition and are being held aboard a hijacked container ship. “We are well and being looked after OK,” Paul Chandler, 59, told the BBC by phone today; he also spoke to British channel...

Pirates Hijack Yacht, Kidnap UK Couple

Brits reportedly safe after yacht seized off Somalia

(Newser) - A British couple whose yacht went missing in the Indian Ocean four days ago is being held by Somali pirates. The couple was captured during a round-the-world trip while sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania; five international warships were searching hundreds of miles off the African coast for the pair....

Journo Who Broke Russian Pirate Story Flees Country

Mikhail Voitenko says he knows more than he can tell about Arctic Sea 's cargo

(Newser) - The Russian journalist who was first to report on the disappearance of the Arctic Sea cargo ship has fled the country after receiving threats, the Guardian reports. Mikhail Voitenko, who speculated that the ship may have been carrying a secret cargo of weapons or "something much more expensive and...

Hijackers Threatened to Scuttle Russian Freighter

(Newser) - The hijackers of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea planned to destroy it if their ransom demand was not met, Reuters reports. “The crew members have already confirmed that the captors demanded a ransom and threatened to blow up the vessel,” says a Russian defense official. There was no...

Russia Arrests 8 in Ship Hijacking

(Newser) - Russia's navy arrested eight men accused of hijacking the Arctic Sea freighter near Sweden and forcing the crew to sail to West Africa, the defense minister said today. The suspected hijackers were detained by the naval vessel that found the Russian-crewed freighter yesterday off Cape Verde, thousands of miles from...

Navy Probes SEALs Over Missing Pirate Money

(Newser) - The Navy is questioning the crew of the Maersk Alabama and members of its own SEAL unit about $30,000 that went missing from the hijacked cargo ship, the New York Post reports. The money was taken by the pirates during the hijacking attempt but was not recovered after they...

UK Cell Feeds Intel to Somali Pirates

(Newser) - Somali pirates are being aided by an information-gathering “consultant” team in London, the Guardian reports. According to a European intelligence report, the pirates use satellite phones to stay in touch with the London cell, which has access to specific information about routes and ship layouts provided to European governments....

Somali Clerics Lead Backlash Against Pirates

Religious sheikhs preach against sea bandits and their un-Islamic ways

(Newser) - Somalia's pirates are facing an enemy on land many of them fear more than foreign warships, the New York Times reports. Sheikhs and Islamic clerics are preaching against the "burcad badeed"—Somali for sea bandits—accusing them of introducing evils like drugs and alcohol to Somali society and...

Somali Pirates Seize German Ship, 11 Crew

(Newser) - Somali pirates have hijacked a German cargo ship carrying a crew of 11 in the Gulf of Aden, the latest seizure by high-seas bandits who are holding hundreds of merchant mariners hostage, the AP reports.The MV Victoria was captured yesterday 75 miles south of Yemen. There is no information...

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