Navy Probes SEALs Over Missing Pirate Money

Family say hostage captain's sense of humor could keep him alive

(NEWSER) - The American captain held hostage by Somali pirates jumped into the ocean last night and tried to swim to a nearby Navy destroyer, but pirates swam after him and pulled him back, CNN reports. He was not believed to be harmed in the attempt, a US official said. The four bandits, meanwhile, told Reuters by satellite phone they would fight back if the Navy strikes. "We are not afraid of the Americans," said one. More»

(NEWSER) - As FBI hostage negotiators joined the effort to end the standoff with Somali pirates over a captive American captain, the Maersk Alabama got under way today, bound for its original destination, the AP reports. An FBI spokesman said the bureau was “fully engaged” with the Navy in strategizing how to extract Capt. Richard Phillips without resorting to combat. More»

Pirate lifeboat 'dead in the water' as warships close in

(NEWSER) - Four Somali pirates still holding a American captain hostage this morning are rapidly running out of options in their standoff with a US Navy warship, the AP reports. The pirates are in a lifeboat seized to replace their own vessel, floating hundreds of miles away from Somalia with enough food for a week—but no fuel. Six other warships are approaching the area. More»

(NEWSER) - The American crew of a ship hijacked by pirates today off northern Somalia has retaken control, though a crewmember says the vessel’s captain remains a hostage. The AP called a satellite phone aboard the Maersk Alabama, and was told by someone with an American accent that the 20-member crew negotiated its release after capturing one of the pirates. More»

Details emerging on Jessica Buchanan, saved in Navy SEAL raid

(NEWSER) - Jessica Buchanan, the American aid worker rescued in a Navy SEAL overnight raid , first came to Africa as a student teacher in Nairobi. "That experience just planted in her a love and passion for Africa," says the president of the Pennsylvania Christian college from which Buchanan graduated in 2007 with a degree in early childhood education. "She could hardly talk about Africa without tears in her eyes." She was hired at the same Kenyan academy where she worked as a student, and taught there for two years. More»