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<p>NAIROBI, Kenya — The EU's anti-piracy force says Somali pirates have seized a super tanker carrying crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States.</p>

A neat video of about four minutes on what pirates can expect if they attack a vessel outfitted by this new security technology.The water walls may be new technology, but the armed snipers are almost as old as piracy itself.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — As a Spanish warship looked on, a $3.3 million ransom was delivered by boat Tuesday and Somali pirates freed a Spanish trawler and its 36 crew members. Spain's prime minister did little to deny paying off the hijackers — one reason the lucrative attacks are on the rise. "The government did what it had to do," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference in Madrid. "The important thing is that the sailors will be back with us. The first obligation of a country, of the government of a state, is to save the lives...

"Four suspected pirates in a skiff attacked the ship again on Tuesday around 6:30 a.m. local time, firing on the ship with automatic weapons from about 300 yards (meters) away, a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said."

A chemical tanker with a crew of 28 North Koreans has been hijacked by pirates near Somalia, the European Union's naval force says. The MV Theresa VIII, a Singaporean-operated tanker, was taken on Monday in the south Somali Basin, 180 nautical miles north west of the Seychelles. The vessel had been heading for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, but was diverted north, the naval force said. The EU naval force (Navfor) operates in the region to protect shipping. Somali pirates, using "mother ships" to launch their small-boat attacks on vessels, have extended their range to an area off the...

A British man has told how he and his wife were kidnapped by armed pirates while the pair slept aboard their yacht in the Indian Ocean. Paul Chandler, of Kent, speaking by phone to ITV news, said: "I was asleep and men with guns came aboard." Mr Chandler, 59, said he and his wife, Rachel, 55, are currently being held hostage on board a container ship. Their yacht was found during counter-piracy operations after a major multi-national search for the pair began. Mr Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells, said the raid had come in the early hours. ... Mr Chandler said...

Pirate Party hopes for free future By Ian Youngs Music reporter, BBC News The Pirate Party, a political movement born out of music file-sharing, has gained support in Sweden and Germany, and is planning to field candidates in the next UK general election. It wants to encourage all file-sharing and slash copyright - to the horror of many artists and entertainment executives. So are they a significant force or a fleeting bunch of freeloaders? If Rick Falkvinge did not already know what the music industry thought of him, the Pirate Party founder found out at the In The City music...

Politicians with ties to land developers are trying to force the Navy to hand over one of the most valuable pieces of property in the country for free. The House version of the 2010 Defense authorization bill scheduled for conference today contains language that would speed the transfer of Naval Station Treasure Island to the city of San Francisco at no cost.

There's an email whipping around the internet, supposedly written by a Navy SEAL who complains that President Obama delayed decisions to deploy the Navy SEALs because he wanted to resolve the hostage standoff with Captain Richard Phillips "peacefully." There's enough background detail in the email to suggest it was in fact written by a SEAL, but several senior military officials who were involved in the direct planning and execution of the mission -- including in consultations with the White House and President Obama -- tell NBC News the claims are bogus.

An Australian naval ship has thwarted an attack on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, by suspected Somali pirates armed with a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The HMAS Toowoomba answered an emergency call from merchant vessel BBC Portugal after it sighted an armed boat approaching on Sept. 20, Australia's Department of Defence said today in a faxed statement. Along with the grenade launcher, staff from the Toowoomba found six AK47 assault rifles, a G3 assault rifle and a large quantity of ammunition. Somali pirates venturing out to sea as monsoon winds abate are...

The prosecution of a Somali teenager accused of leading a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa was taken off the fast track Thursday after a lawyer said more time will be needed to translate some Somali recordings into English. Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse appeared briefly in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where he was brought after his arrest aboard the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama in April. Authorities say Muse was the only surviving pirate of a group that he led in an attack off the coast of Africa on the cargo ship, which was carrying humanitarian...

Country’s National Assembly passes draft law that kills illegal downloaders’ internet accessThe French National Assembly has passed one of the toughest laws against internet piracy that the world has ever seen.Under the new legislation, backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, illegal downloaders of games, music and movies will be sent two warnings - first by email and then by recorded delivery. Following these cautions, the offender's details will be passed to a judge – who now has the power to cut off Internet access and issue heavy fines or even prison sentences.The law was narrowly passed by 285 votes to 225....

Authorities have confirmed the first case of alleged Pakistani involvement with Somali pirates in a revelation that has raised concerns here about a possible link between piracy and suspected terrorist groups. On April 28, a Russian warship apprehended 12 Pak nationals — along with Somali pirates — for attempting to attack a tanker off Somalia’s coast. An investigation, sources said, pointed to Pak nationals having played a 'lead' role. Their nationality was confirmed through identity cards and “evidence” was handed over on May 8 to MSS Rehmat, a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency ship, 12 miles of Gwadar. It’s being examined...

The hijackers who seized a Russian ship and its crew had demanded a $1.5 million ransom earlier this month, an official with the insurance agency told CNN on Tuesday. The Arctic Sea was found by a Russian Navy vessel on Monday. "The person spoke in English, apparently trying to change his voice to avoid being recognized, and introduced himself as a go-between," said Vladimir Dushin, vice president of Renaissance Insurance, the company that insured the vessel, the Arctic Sea. A recording of the August 3 phone call was turned over to Russian special services, which launched an investigation, Dushin said.

Russia has arrested eight people who hijacked the merchant ship Arctic Sea, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on Tuesday. Serdyukov was quoted as saying that the hijackers of the ship, whose disappearance baffled maritime authorities for weeks, included nationals from Russia, Estonia and Latvia.

The mystery of a missing ship embroiled in contradictory reports deepened Saturday, as investigators in Finland said a ransom demand was made for the freighter that vanished more than two weeks ago. It wasn't immediately clear whether the request for money from the purported hijackers of the vessel, named the Arctic Sea, was legitimate. Markku Ranta-Aho of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation told national YLE radio Saturday that "a ransom demand has been made and it was addressed to the shipping company which is based in Finland, and let's say it's a largish amount of money." He did not give...

The whereabouts of a Russian-manned cargo ship that vanished last month in the Atlantic remained in question Friday -- after a Russian envoy said that a reported sighting off the West African coast proved to be untrue. French and Russian officials had said that the ship, the Arctic Sea, had been discovered off the coast of Cape Verde, and Russian ships were on their way to investigate, the Associated Press reported. But a Russian news agency later quoted Alexander Karpushin, Russia's ambassador to Cape Verde, disputing that information about this ship, which had been carrying a load of timber and...

A missing ship with 15 Russian crew members on board has been spotted more than two weeks after it disappeared, unconfirmed reports say.. Observers have suggested the ship was hijacked, possibly because of a Russian commercial dispute. Attack reports Carrying timber reportedly worth $1.8m (£1.1m), the Arctic Sea sailed from Finland and had been scheduled to dock in the Algerian port of Bejaia on 4 August. The ship had reportedly been attacked twice during its journey - once off the Swedish coast, and then off the Portuguese coast. The crew reported being boarded by up to 10 armed men as...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The mystery surrounding a missing merchant ship deepened Thursday with the vessel's operator suggesting piracy and maritime experts suspecting foul play or even a secret cargo. The Kremlin ordered Russian warships to join the hunt for the 4,000-tonne, 98-meter bulk carrier Arctic Sea, whose fate has baffled maritime authorities across Europe and North Africa. The Maltese-registered vessel, carrying a $1.3-million cargo of timber, was supposed to have docked on August 4 in the Algerian port of Bejaia. It never arrived and is thought to have last made contact from the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of France....

President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the Russian navy to join the hunt for a cargo ship which disappeared after passing through the English Channel. Warships and nuclear submarines have have been told to “take all necessary measures to find and free” the ship and its 15-man Russian crew amid fears that it has been seized by pirates. The mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea has deepened after further details emerged of the “missing” four days after the ship was reportedly raided by armed men off the Swedish coast. There was speculation that the ship had been seized by the Russian Mafia...

First the ship reported it had been attacked in waters off Sweden. Then it sailed with no apparent problems through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. And then it disappeared. The Arctic Sea, a Maltese-flagged cargo ship, was supposed to make port in Algeria with its cargo of timber on Aug. 4. More than a week later, there's no sign of the ship or its Russian crew.

A search is under way for a cargo ship which may have travelled through the English Channel after apparently being hijacked by pirates. Coastguards fear the Maltese-flagged Arctic Sea, carrying 15 Russian crew, was hijacked in the Baltic sea. UK authorities made contact before it entered the Strait of Dover but the Russian navy told the Itar-Tass agency it was now looking for the ship. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the situation was "bizarre". Spokesman Mark Clark said: "Who would think that a hijacked ship could pass through one of the most policed and concentrated waters in the world?...

Overnight gun-battles between rival clans in a pirate stronghold on the coast of Somalia have left at least 17 dead and 30 injured, reports say. Local residents in Haradheere fled as fighting, reportedly over land and the alleged rape of a woman, intensified. Pirates who operate in the area, a port off the shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia, said they were worried the conflict could affect their activities. Somalia, torn by civil war since 1991, lacks an effective central government. "The two clans are fighting over land and a girl who was raped in the forest," a local man,...

In 1847, David Pacifico, a Jew who had been born in British-held Gibraltar and was therefore a British subject, had his house burned down in Athens by an anti-Semitic mob. The Greek government refused to protect him or provide any restitution. Lord Palmerston, Britain’s foreign secretary, sent the Royal Navy to blockade Greece until it paid Pacifico’s demands. Critics charged that Palmerston was overreacting. The House of Lords even voted to censure him. But in the House of Commons, Palmerston carried the day with a magnificent five-hour oration in which he declared: “As the Roman, in days of old, held...

SOMALI pirates fired in the air in jubilation after receiving a $1.8 million ransom in exchange for the release of a German-owned vessel and its 11-member crew. Somali sea gangs, operating in the strategic shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe, have made millions of dollars in ransom from hijacking vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. "We have taken a $1.8 million ransom and released the German ship," pirate Ahmed said from a lair in the town of Eyl on the Somali coast. The 146-metre MV Victoria, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo vessel, was hijacked by eight pirates...

Phoenix - Valley Fever - Pirated Movies Lead to Arrests of Illegal Immigrants; Arpaio Says Recording Industry Wanted Help A private eye hired by the Recording Industry Association of America called the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office for help with pirated movies, leading to the arrests of two illegal immigrants.Two women in their 20s, Karina Romero-Figueroa, 24 and Judith Romero-Figueroa, [both pictured below], were busted at "the Mercado" near U.S. 60, according to a news release put out by the sheriff's office. Another suspect fled the scene when deputies arrived, leaving teenagers behind who were handed over to Child Protective Services....

"Pirates 'smuggling al-Qaeda fighters' into Somalia Somali Islamists bent on turning their land into an international haven for Al Qaeda are using pirate gangs to offer foreign militants safe passage into the country, The Sunday Telegraph has been told." SNIPPET: "The Taliban-style Shabab group , which has already siezed control of much of the lawless nation, has enlisted the pirates' services to smuggle in al-Qaeda fighters from across the Middle East, according to Somali government ministers. They claim that up to 1,000 have arrived in recent months, swelling the ranks of the Shabab in its bid to topple the fragile...

Following the recent jury decision against alleged file sharer Jammie Thomas, in which the woman was fined $80,000 USD for each of the 24 songs she shared via P2P, the popular artist Moby has written a blog entry claiming the RIAA "should be disbanded" for using the wrong techniques against people who are just trying to listen to music. His full post: "The riaa have sued Jammie Thomas-Rasset of minnesota for $2,000,000 for illegally downloading music. argh. what utter nonsense. this is how the record companies want to protect themselves? suing suburban moms for listening to music? charging $80,000 per...

A former Italian president says his country had allowed Palestinian terror groups to roam free in exchange for not attacking Italian targets. Francesco Cossiga's admission confirmed claims of such a deal revealed last week in an interview in the Corriere della Sera newspaper with Bassam Abu Sharif, the former chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In a letter published Aug. 15 in Corriere della Sera, Cossiga described a "secret 'non-belligerence pact' between the Italian state and Palestinian resistance organizations, including terrorist groups" such as the PFLP. The deal, he said, had been devised by Prime Minister...

FRANCE'S highest legal authority has struck down a key provision of a contested Internet piracy law that set up a new state agency to cut off offenders from the web. The ruling is an embarrassing setback for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who championed the adoption of the tough new legislation last month. The Constitutional Council ruled that "free access to public communication services on line" was a human right, and that only a judge should have the power to strike an individual from the internet. Council members, who include former French presidents, based their ruling on the preamble to the French...

There's not a warship for miles, a small pirate skiff is speeding toward you and there's no way the creaking tub you're on can outrun the bandits. How long do you wait before you shoot?

Nearly a dozen pirates armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machineguns and grappling hooks have been seized in the Gulf of Aden, after being intercepted by a Royal Navy warship. Two skiffs had been detected by the radar on board HMS Portland, a Type 23 frigate, which was originally designed for anti-submarine warfare. Suspecting that they were “not innocent fishing vessels”, the frigate, commanded by Commander Tim Henry, steamed closer to the skiffs and saw that both vessels were filled with weaponry and ammunition. The ship’s Lynx helicopter was sent to hover over the skiffs while teams of Royal Marine and navy...

Cher has sued Universal Music Group, claiming that the label's creative accounting has shortchanged her and the heirs of her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, to the tune of $5 million. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims an audit of UMG's accounting to the singer-actress from 2000 to 2003 showed that UMG executives "engaged in wrongful tactics" designed to hide revenue from two hit compilation albums. The five-count, 22-page complaint claims breach of two recording contracts Cher had with UMG predecessors, one with MCA division Kapp Records in 1972 and a 1987 deal with the David Geffen...

"Terrorism expert says LNG project lacks safeguards Opponents of Sparrows Point terminal enlist former CIA official" SNIPPET: "Opponents of a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Baltimore County stepped up their attacks Tuesday, hosting an appearance by a former CIA officer who said the $400 million project lacks critical safeguards and raises the specter of terrorism and piracy." SNIPPET: ""AES wants to build this facility without putting in meaningful safeguards to stand up to terrorist threats," Faddis said. In his talk yesterday, Faddis raised the issue of piracy, tying recent incidents on the Indian Ocean to what could happen on...

Naturally, any sane person would, instinctively, wish to spare these Somali creatures the terror of enduring a fair, UN/Amnesty/Greenpeace/Muslim Brotherhood/New York Times supervized trial and simply put them out of their misery by a Swedish Bofors Defence 57-mm Mk 110 Naval Gun while being caught red-handed in the act. But this is not how we do things in a Swedish style. Let's see what happens if we Westerners send them off to Kenya, a nation that, just like Sweden, is eager to find out more about the connections between Somali piracy and Islamofascism. I support Kenya, Ethiopia and any other...

Two Yemeni fishermen were killed and another was injured after their boat came under a missile strike in the Red Sea, the official Saba news agency reported Wednesday. Saba said the missile is believed to have launched by an international anti-piracy navy ship. The agency said the “the boat was totally destroyed”, in the attack that took place in the Sudanese territorial waters Tuesday. It said the injured fisherman made it to Sudanese coast, while the fate of a fourth fisherman was still unknown. The missile “probably came from sea by one of those warships conducting anti-piracy patrols in the...

Swedish naval personnel arrested seven pirates in the Gulf of Aden in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces. The pirates were apprehended by staff from the HMS Malmö as they attempted to board a Greek cargo vessel halfway between Yemen and Somalia. HMS Malmö was ordered to respond to a distress signal sent out shortly before 1.30am by the M/V Antonis. The cargo ship's crew said they had come under rocket-proppeled grenade fire from two boats manned by pirates. When the Swedish crew arrived at the scene the pirates were attempting...

For the second time in recent days, a Canadian warship has intervened to protect ships in the Gulf of Aden from pirates. A Sea King helicopter from HMCS Winnipeg chased two suspected pirate boats, which split up and sped away after the men on board spotted the aircraft. Both the helicopter and warship caught up to one of the boats, about 80 kilometres off the coast of Yemen. A boarding party seized several weapons from the boat, including AK-47 assault rifles, ammunition, an M-16 rifle and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with two warheads, said Cmdr. Craig Baines, captain of HMCS...

SNIPPET: "South Korea's naval unit operating off the coast of Somalia has been placed on high alert over Somali pirates' possible attacks using U.S. surface-to-air guided missiles against its helicopter, according to intelligence and Navy sources Monday. The National Intelligence Service and the Defense Security Command recently provided the classified information to the Cheonghae Unit that Somali pirates seemed to have acquired ``Stinger'' missiles from al-Qaeda, said the sources." SNIPPET: "The unit reported the potential threat missiles to the Navy command here and requested data on the weapon, the source said. A military spokesman in Seoul said there was no...

TWO Australian warships have rushed to the aid of a freighter under attack in the Gulf of Aden from pirates. HMAS Sydney and HMAS Ballarat responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel, MV Dubai Princess, at about 6pm yesterday. Upon receiving the distress call, the Sydney closed in on the merchant vessel and launched a helicopter to assess the situation, while the Ballarat went to action stations. As the situation developed, another merchant vessel, MV MSC Stella, was also harassed by small vessels in the same area. The head of the Australian Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus...

The Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean are directed to their targets by a "consultant" team in London, according to European military intelligence. Pirate groups have "well-placed informers" in London who are in regular contact with control centres in Somalia where decisions on which vessels to attack are made. These London-based "consultants" help the pirates select targets, providing information on the ships' cargoes and courses. In at least one case the pirates have remained in contact with their London informants from the hijacked ship, according to one targeted shipping company. The pirates' information network extends to...

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, May 13, 2009 – With piracy generating big news in the Gulf of Aden, a far-less-recognized multilateral partnership has brought pirates’ swashbuckling days to a virtual halt in the strategic Strait of Malacca. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, praised a partnership among Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and, increasingly, Thailand and the Philippines, that has boosted maritime security dramatically. An estimated 40 percent of the world’s trade -- about 50,000 vessels each year -- transit the narrow passageway that links the Indian and Pacific oceans. Until three years ago, pirates trolling the strait...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy says an American warship that recently served as a prison for captured pirates has evaded an attack off the Somali coast by two boats that pursued the vessel for over an hour and fired light weapons.

Germany recalled its GSG-9 commando unit from the pirate-infested region over the weekend after deciding that attempting to storm another ship – the Hansa Stavanger – could have ended in a bloodbath."At approximately 09:09 a.m. AST, the Maritime Administration of Antigua and Barbuda was advised that the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo vessel M/V Victoria had been hijacked by eight pirates in the Gulf of Aden whilst proceeding towards the Port of Jeddah in the Red Sea," the Antigua and Barbuda government said in a statement. It added that the 7,767 gross ton, 146-metre general cargo vessel had a crew of...

The Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet announced April 24 that the U.S. Navy will transfer command of U.S.-dominated counter-piracy operation known as Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 to the Turkish navy in a ceremony attended by U.S. Rear Adm. Michelle Howard and Turkish Rear Adm. Caner Bener at Naval Support Activity Bahrain on May 3. {snip!} The U.S. transfer of command of the CTF 151 to the Turkish navy thus carries a great deal of symbolic weight. This is about the United States sharing responsibility with a strategic ally and putting that cooperation on display for U.S. allies and adversaries to...

...After World War II, a new tax put U.S. flagship owners at a competitive disadvantage compared with their foreign-flag competitors, prompting many to ditch Old Glory. But after Navy sharpshooters last month sniped three pirates dead from nearly 100 feet away in the dark on the heaving seas off the coast of Somalia, senators on Thursday asked the captain of the hijacked cargo ship Maersk Alabama whether it wouldn't be a good idea to hoist the Stars and Stripes, you know, just to scare off would-be attackers. Not at all, Captain Richard Phillips told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "You...

The men, who captured 12 armed pirates, are part of a newly formed militia. They are expected to turn the pirates over to Somali authorities.Somalis are fed up with pirates clogging up their ports – and they’re not taking it anymore. At least some of them. Somali vigilantes captured 12 armed pirates in two boats after regional leaders in the coastal towns of Alula and Bargaal in Somalia’s northern Puntland region told the BBC that they have formed a militia of fishermen to catch the modern-day swashbucklers. The vigilantes aren’t going to make the pirates walk the plank into the...

Can you tell the difference between these two reports about the attempted high jacking of the Italian Cruise Ship Melody? Did you notice the word left out of the BBC Coverage? Israeli. So what is going on? Does the BBC Hate Israel so much that the refuse to recognize when Israelis do a good thing? Or are they still smarting for being smacked around by the BBC Trustees for their biased coverage of Israel. Either way, this is additional proof that BBC stands for Bullcrap Broadcast Continually.

As Somali pirates increase and intensify their operations, in capturing ships on the Indian Ocean and taking hostage of all the crew members on these vessels for a ransom, the international community has also turned its attention to the activities of these pirates in a bid to end the crisis caused by their actions on this sea. Recently, American war ships and marine forces rescued an American ship, dramatically rescuing its captain who had remained in captivity of the pirates. The operation took the lives of three Somali pirates while four of them captured. A few days ago, the French...

Pirates have seized a German-owned ship in the pirate-infested waters between Somalia and Yemen, a U.S. Navy spokesman said Saturday. Pirates captured the Maltese-flagged MV Patriot early on Saturday in the Gulf of Aden about 150 nautical miles (280 kilometers) southeast of the coastal Yemeni city of Muqalla, said U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen. An official from the German Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm the ship's capture on Saturday. Andrew Mwangura of the Mombasa, Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, a group that monitors pirate activity off the African coast, said the ship has 17 crew...