Pirates hijack US tugboat - Breaking news updates

NAIROBI, Kenya — According to breaking news updates, the head of a Kenyan seafarers' program said Saturday that Somali pirates had hijacked an American-owned tugboat with 16 crew in the Gulf of Aden.

Nairobi-based Italian Ambassador Pierandrea Magistrati said he only could confirm that "there is a boat that has been hijacked, I believe by Somali pirates."

The hijacking took place as the American captain of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama was still being held hostage on a lifeboat being watched by two U.S. warships.

The head of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, Andrew Mwangura, said maritime industry sources had informed his organization that the Italian-flagged U.S. tugboat was towing two barges when it was attacked. He said it was unclear if the attack took place off the coast of Somalia or further north near Yemen. He said did not know what was on the barges.

Mwangura said the attack was launched around 11 a.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday.

More U.S. warships were trying to stop Somali pirates from sending reinforcements to the lifeboat where the American captain was being held for a fourth day hundreds of miles from land, a diplomat said Saturday.

The Nairobi-based diplomat, who receives regular briefings on the situation, said the four pirates holding Capt. Richard Phillips in a lifeboat under the close watch of U.S. warships some 380 miles off shore had tried to summon other pirates from the Somali mainland.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said that pirates had been trying to reach the lifeboat. A Somali who described himself as having close ties to pirate networks also said the pirates were trying to reach the lifeboat.

The Somali told The Associated Press that pirates had set out in four commandeered ships with hostages from a variety of nations including the Philippines, Russia and Germany. The diplomat told the AP that large pirate "motherships" and skiffs were heading in the direction of the lifeboat.

A second Somali man who said he had spoken by satellite phone to a pirate piloting a seized German freighter told the AP by phone Saturday that the pirate captain had reported being blocked by U.S. forces and was returning Saturday to the pirate stronghold of Harardhere.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, he said the pirate told him the ship was in sight of a U.S. Navy destroyer Saturday morning local time, received a U.S. warning not to come any closer and, fearing attack, left the scene without ever seeing the lifeboat.

A Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations said in Washington Saturday morning that there had been no developments overnight. He declined to comment on the report that the U.S. Navy had turned back the pirates.

The diplomat said from Nairobi that at least two American ships and U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft had been attempting to deter pirate ships and skiffs from contact with the lifeboat but he did not know if the pirates and Navy ships had come into contact.

The Somali man said the pirate also told him that two other commandeered ships from Taiwan and Greece that were trying to reach the lifeboat feared a showdown with the U.S. Navy and returned to Eyl, a port that serves as a pirate hub, on Friday night. It was not immediately possible to contact people in Eyl Saturday.

The Somali man said the fourth ship that had tried to reach the lifeboat was a Norwegian tanker that was released Friday after a $2 million ransom was paid. The owner of the Norwegian tanker Bow Asir confirmed Friday that it had been released two weeks after it was seized by armed pirates off the Somali coast, and all 27 of its crew members were unhurt.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was seized Wednesday when he thwarted the takeover of the 17,000-ton U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food aid for hungry people in Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda. He told his crew of 20 to lock themselves in a cabin, crew members told stateside relatives.

Phillips surrendered himself to safeguard his men. The crew later overpowered some of the pirates but the Somalis fled with the captain to an enclosed lifeboat, the relatives said.

The Alabama was heading toward the Kenyan port of Mombasa — its original destination — with 20 American crew members aboard. It was expected to arrive Saturday night, said Joseph Murphy, whose son is second-in-command of the vessel.

On Friday, Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the sensitive, unfolding operations.

Negotiations had been taking place between the pirates and the captain of the Bainbridge, who was getting direction from FBI hostage negotiators, the officials said.

Sailors on the USS Bainbridge, which has rescue helicopters and lifeboats, were able to see Phillips but at several hundred yards away were too far to help him. The U.S. destroyer is keeping its distance, in part to stay out of the pirates' range of fire.

The lifeboat has some gas and the ability to move, according to U.S. defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive details.

U.S. sailors saw Phillips moving around and talking after his return to the lifeboat, and the Defense Department officials said they think he is unharmed.

The Bainbridge was joined Friday by the USS Halyburton, which has helicopters, and the huge, amphibious USS Boxer was expected soon after, the defense officials said. The Boxer, the flagship of a multination anti-piracy task force, resembles a small aircraft carrier. It has a crew of more than 1,000, a mobile hospital, missile launchers and about two dozen helicopters and attack planes.

The vice president of the Philippines, the nation with the largest number of sailors held captive by Somali pirates, appealed for the safety of hostages to be ensured in the standoff.

"We hope that before launching any tactical action against the pirates, the welfare of every hostage is guaranteed and ensured," said Vice President Noli de Castro. "Moreover, any military action is best done in consultation with the United Nations to gain the support and cooperation of other countries."

France's navy on Friday freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the hostages was killed.

France's defense minister promised an autopsy and investigation into the death of the hostage killed during the commando operation, which freed four other captives and was prompted by threats the passengers would be executed.

The pirates had seized the sailboat carrying Florent Lemacon, his wife, 3-year-old son and two friends off the Somali coast a week ago.

Two pirates were killed, and Lemacon died in an exchange of fire as he tried to duck down the hatch. Three pirates were taken prisoner in the operation, and are to be brought to France for criminal proceedings.

Piracy along the anarchic and impoverished Somali coast, the longest in Africa, has risen in recent years.

Somali pirates have been seizing ships with many hostages and anchoring it near shore, where they have quickly escaped to land and begun negotiations for multimillion-dollar ransoms.

They hold about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the International Maritime Bureau, a piracy watchdog group based in Malaysia. The bureau lists 66 attacks since January, not including the Alabama.

British Terror Plannings and arrests - Breaking news updates

A row has broken out over Britain's border security, following the arrest of 12 people suspected of involvement in an alleged terror bomb plot.

As per breaking news updates, Ministers rejected claims controls were too lax, after it emerged that 11 of the suspects are Pakistanis, ten of whom were in the UK on student visas.

A search of properties in north-west England has continued through the day.

Officers discovered pictures of popular Manchester shopping centres and a nightclub, sources told the esolgsmnews.

They were named as the Arndale and Trafford Centre shopping complexes, Birdcage nightclub and St Ann's Square.

The 12 men arrested during the raids in Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire on Wednesday remain in police custody and are still being questioned, said a spokesman for Greater Manchester police.

Meanwhile, the revelations regarding the nationality of the suspects have stoked concerns that the authorities have lost the ability to control Britain's border security.

In particular, critics have pointed to alleged deficiencies within the student visa system, and the fact that of the 12 suspects, 10 were in the UK on student visas.

Home Office figures for between April 2004 and April 2008 - the last year for which figures are available - show that about 42,000 Pakistani nationals entered the UK on student visas.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling called on the government to "urgently step up" background checks on students coming to Britain from countries which have been linked to terror.

The chairman of immigration campaign group Migrationwatch UK, Sir Andrew Green, said student visas were a "gaping hole" in Britain's borders.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to the UK: 'You can't blame Pakistan''

"Applicants from countries of concern like Pakistan and North Africa should be given a full interview by a UK-based visa officer and only admitted if they can demonstrate that they are genuine," he said.

"Last year over 10,000 students were admitted from Pakistan with what are clearly inadequate checks."

Former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, told BBC Radio 4's Any Questions programme that even if the visa system was changed, foreign nationals would find a way to get into Britain.

"This city [London] makes billions of pounds a year out of selling further and higher education to people from abroad. They will find a way round it. If it isn't students coming in, it will be tourists.

"We catch these people because of electronic surveillance and double agents and we aren't going to pick one up easily at the border," he said.

Background checks

However the government insisted that the student visa system had already been been tightened up.

The Home Office said Pakistani nationals who applied for UK student visas have had to pass strict vetting procedures introduced in September 2007.

The procedures include fingerprint tests and a check of applicants' identities against criminal and counter-terrorism databases, as well as additional immigration and asylum checks.

From autumn this year, British universities will also be obliged to check the names of overseas students against a government database of terror suspects.

However, it is not yet known whether any of the suspects arrested on Wednesday applied for their overseas student visas after September 2007.

If they did apply after that date, it could mean that they passed all the tests designed to weed out extremists.

Immigration minister Phil Woolas told the BBC that secret British intelligence and intelligence from other countries was also being used "in a targeted way".

And he rejected criticism from Pakistan's High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, who accused the UK of refusing Pakistani offers of help with background checks.

"It's naive to think that we don't check, we do work very closely with the Pakistan authorities, indeed we've been criticised for doing so," Mr Woolas said.

The joint anti-terror approach was being reinforced by Downing Street on Friday, which said Gordon Brown and Pakistan's president were "committed to working together".

After Wednesday's raids Mr Brown challenged Pakistan to do more to weed out potential extremists who might target the UK.

A spokesman confirmed Mr Brown and President Asif Ali Zardari had since spoken on the telephone and agreed "the UK and Pakistan share a serious threat from terrorism and violent extremism".

In Manchester, it was business as usual for the shopping centres allegedly named in the suspected plot.

Security staff at the Trafford Centre and officials at Manchester Arndale said they had not been informed of any threat.

And an Arndale spokesman said: "Both Manchester Arndale and the The Birdcage will be operating as normal over the Easter weekend."

Police are not thought to have recovered any explosive devices during their searches.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his understanding was that the alleged plot had been at the "aspirational, not operational" stage.

U.S vs Somali Pirates - Breaking news updates

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - As per breaking news updates, Somali pirates holding an American on a drifting lifeboat vowed on Friday to fight any attack by U.S. naval forces and reportedly recaptured their hostage when he jumped overboard to escape.

Ship captain Richard Phillips leapt into the sea, but was quickly brought back, U.S. media said, citing defense sources.

"We are not afraid of the Americans," one of the pirates told esolgsmnews by satellite phone on behalf of the gang holding Phillips far off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean.

"We will defend ourselves if attacked."

Despite their defiant talk, maritime groups tracking the saga -- the first time Somali pirates have captured an American -- say a more likely outcome is a negotiated solution, possibly involving safe passage in exchange for their captive.

The gang is also seeking a ransom, friends say.

Four pirates have been holding Phillips, a former Boston taxi driver, since Wednesday after a foiled bid to hijack the 17,000-tonne Maersk Alabama several hundred miles off Somalia.

The ship's lifeboat has run out of fuel.

Two boats full of heavily-armed fellow pirates have taken to sea in solidarity with the four on the lifeboat, but are too nervous to come near due to the presence of foreign naval ships including the USS Bainbridge destroyer which is up close.

"Other pirates want to come and help their friends, but that would be like sentencing themselves to death," said Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program that monitors the region's seas.

"They will release the captain, I think, maybe today or tomorrow, but in exchange for something. Maybe some payment or compensation, and definitely free passage back home."

Phillips is one of about 270 hostages being held at the moment by Somali pirates, who have been plying the busy sea-lanes of the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean for years.

They are keeping 18 captured vessels at or near lairs on the Somali coast -- five of them taken since the weekend alone.

Yet the fact Phillips is the first U.S. citizen seized, and the drama of his 20-man American crew stopping the Alabama being hijacked on Wednesday, has galvanized world attention.

It has also given President Barack Obama another foreign policy problem in a place most Americans would rather forget.

Breaking News - Google to Acquire Twitter

Website:	twitter.com
Location:	San Francisco, California, United States
Founded:	March 21, 2006
Funding:	$55M

Twitter, founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006…

Here’s a heck of a rumor that as per breaking news and sources from two separate people close to the negotiations: Google is in late stage negotiations to acquire Twitter. We don’t know the price but can assume its well, well north of the $250 million valuation that they saw in their recent funding.

Twitter turned down an offer to be bought by Facebook just a few months ago for half a billion dollars, although that was based partially on overvalued Facebook stock. Google would be paying in cash and/or publicly valued stock, which is equivalent to cash. So whatever the final acquisition value might be, it can’t be compared apples-to-apples with the Facebook deal.

Why would Google want Twitter? We’ve been arguing for some time that Twitter’s real value is in search. It holds the keys to the best real time database and search engine on the Internet, and Google doesn’t even have a horse in the game.

If this is accurate, it’s a brilliant deal for Google - the value of Twitter is only going to go up over time. And it will be Twitter founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone’s second sale to Google - they sold Blogger to them just five years ago. But there’s one big question - where’s Microsoft in all this? Letting Twitter go to Google only hurts them, badly, in the long term search game. This is an asset they need to be competing for aggressively.

Of course, it’ll be sad to see Twitter become just another subsidiary of Google, if this happens. I would have liked to have seen the company spread its wings a little longer to see what it could do.

Updated: Yet another source says the acquisition discussions are still fairly early stage, and the two companies are also considering working together on a Google real time search engine. But discussions between the companies are confirmed.

Update 2 (4/3/09): In a non-denial blog post entitled “Sometimes We Talk” Twitter co-Founder Biz Stone says: “It should come as no surprise that Twitter engages in discussions with other companies regularly and on a variety of subjects.”

Breaking News - Pakistan Government missing two Factors

Pakistan - As per breaking news, Federal minister advisor Rehman Malik stated in his recent statement his two factors to journalist after Chakwal Suicide bombing that we are near to find terrorists network. These are the Pakistanis and these are the people who are getting reward money for their families and doing suicide bombs in Pakistan by the masterminds behind the terrorism. These suiciders getting from half million to 1 million rupees for doing such kind of terrorist activities. On the other side, many terrorism activities are giving us signals of inclusion of banned religious organization Bait-ulllah-Mehsood behind these terrorism activities, Pakistan Government officials stated to esolgsmnews. But in the whole, Pakistan Government missing and ignoring two major factors and issues who are causing for terrorism in Pakistan. Taking reward and doing suicide bombing may be a factor because such kind of banned religious organizations are much stronger in financial view point and also getting funds in name of charity within the Pakistan and also from abroad. But this factor may be a 3rd category factor. The other two major factors are ignored by all officials from Government of Pakistan. The major one between of these two is the Drone attacks within the Pakistan which is hyping those people or persons who are loosing their family members after these attacks. When a Drone attack happens in any area of Pakistan. So many other people other then terrorists also dies and this hypes that family person who remain alone in this world after loosing his all family members and he decides to also suicide and suicides after wearing a jacket bomb around his body and after killing the people within the Pakistan to aware Pakistan Government that I also lost my all family members after drone attack which are causing due to Pakistan government permissions. The other major affect is to get 'Heaven'. A Muslim can sacrify anything to get 'Heaven'. Even he can also sacrify his soul to get Heaven after his death. The masterminds behind these terrorism also using this key for their own purpose and doing brain wash of those people who want to die in the name of Islam and they want to get heaven after their death. The masterminds are using these people to die for Islam after fighting against the present rulers who are doing acts against Islam. The masterminds are convincing these kind of people against the present rulers of Pakistan that these rulers are obeying the orders of Islam enemy countries like 'America' etc. So these people are following and obeying the commands of those masterminds to get 'Heaven' after death. But they are forgetting that Islam never allows any Muslim to kill any human being in name of Islam even in any condition. Here the question is that who will get 'Heaven'. A person who is killing a Muslim in the name of Islam or a Muslim who dies but doing nothing?? The question is that why this terrorism is happening?? Not any other thing but it only shows only one thing that something happened wrong anywhere with someone. Something happened a wrong which should not be happen. But time is now to find out that mishap and to cure it. But if it will be late to find out this wrong mishap, the cancer of terrorism will destroy all the societies soon before these societies grow. Just think....