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NEWS ABOUT: Somali pirates

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EU Strikes Somali Pirates

First mainland raid a success

(Newser) - The European Union launched its first raid on mainland Somali pirate bases overnight, destroying five of their boats using warships and helicopters. The naval attack was the first under an expanded Operation Atalanta, which gave the EU power to attack both land and sea targets. Last night’s attack focused... More »

American Travel Writer Kidnapped in Somalia

Michael Scott Moore was considering writing a book about Somali pirates

(Newser) - Somali gunmen have kidnapped noted travel and surfing writer Michael Scott Moore, and are demanding an unknown ransom for his release. Moore, a Manhattan Beach native currently living in Berlin, holds both US and German citizenship. He was in Somalia because he was considering writing a book about Somali pirates,... More »

Rescued Aid Worker Loved Africa

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... More »

Obama Learned of SEALs' Success Before SOTU

President had ordered Jessica Buchanan's rescue Monday night

(Newser) - If President Obama was smiling last night, it's partly because just hours before the State of the Union he'd taken a phone call telling him that the Navy SEALs rescue of Jessica Buchanan and a companion had been a success, Politico reports. Some 15 minutes after the speech—... More »

SEALs Raid Frees Yank, Dane in Somalia

Nine pirates reportedly killed as aid workers rescued by same team who killed bin Laden

(Newser) - Navy SEALs, reportedly the same team that took out Osama bin Laden, launched a daring helicopter raid early today in Somalia, freeing an American and a Danish aid worker held by kidnappers since October , reports MSNBC . Helicopters landed just outside the pirates' camp in the pre-dawn hours, entering the camp... More »

US, Danish Aid Workers Kidnapped in Somalia

Demining workers seized by pirates

(Newser) - Three aid workers who were helping to remove land mines in northern Somalia have been kidnapped by gunmen who attacked their convoy. The three—a 32-year-old American woman, a 60-year-old Danish man, and a Somali colleague—were seized on their way to an airport and security officials believe they are... More »

Somali Gunmen Kidnap Wheelchair-Bound Tourist

Attackers may be in standoff at sea

(Newser) - Echoing other recent assaults by Somali gunmen, a gang of Somalis kidnapped a wheelchair-bound French tourist today from her bungalow in Kenya. The attackers slipped into one of East Africa's fanciest tourist areas by boat at around 3am, burst into her bungalow on Manda Island and dragged her away... More »

Somali Pirates Free Danish Family

Three children were among those held hostage

(Newser) - The Danish family held hostage by Somali pirates since February has been released and is safe. Jan Quist Johansen, his wife, their three children between the ages of 12 and 16, and two adult crew members are in “relatively good condition,” according to Denmark’s foreign ministry and... More »

Pirate Hostages Plead for Help in YouTube Video

Danes, Filipinos urge ship's owner to secure their freedom

(Newser) - A shipping industry group has released a harrowing video of Danish and Filipino seamen being held hostage by Somali pirates. The men, who were seized when pirates hijacked a Danish cargo ship in January, plead for their freedom in the video, which Save Our Seafarers says it uploaded to YouTube... More »

Lousy Weather Forecasts May Be Pirates' Fault

Scientists can't collect ocean data, ask US, Australia for help

(Newser) - Scientists have asked the American and Australian navies to help them deploy robots in a vast area of the Indian Ocean that pirates have made too dangerous for ordinary vessels. Deep-ocean robotic buoys play a vital role in climate change studies and weather forecasts, but researchers say pirate activity has... More »

4th Somali Pirate Pleads Guilty in Yacht Hijacking

A Somali man may have helped take four Americans hostage, and killed them

(AP) - A fourth Somali man has pleaded guilty to piracy for his role in the hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans dead last February. Burhan Abdirahman Yusuf, who pleaded guilty in federal court in Norfolk today, is among 14 people from Somalia and one from Yemen facing charges related... More »

FBI Hauls in Somali Pirate Boss for Deadly Attack

US captures pirate on land for first time for Virginia indictment

(Newser) - The FBI has hauled an alleged pirate leader from Somalia to Virginia to stand trial for his role in the killings of four American hostages earlier this year . Mohammad Shibin was captured in a joint operation coordinated with Somali authorities, reports the Wall Street Journal . The arrest of Shibin, who... More »

India Captures 61 Pirates, Mothership

Navy, hijackers battle on Arabian Sea

(Newser) - India nabbed 61 Somali pirates in the Indian Sea today, reports the AP , after naval vessels returned fire from their hijacked fishing boat, which caught fire. The fishing boat from Mozambique had been used as a roving mothership for many attacks on commercial vessels traveling between East Africa and India.... More »

Somali Pirates Out of Space for Captured Ships

They're starting to accept lower ransoms because they've got too many

(Newser) - Good news/bad news time, shipping industry. The good news: Somali pirates are starting to accept lower ransoms for ships! Bad news: It’s because they’ve captured so many they’re running out of places to put the dang things. The ports at Haradheere, Eyl, and Hobyo are jam-packed with... More »

Somali Pirate: I Raked In $2.4M Last Year

Which Saeed Yare spent on bodyguards, three villas, among other things

(Newser) - It's not exactly an honest day's work, but it certainly seems to return much more than an honest day's pay: Somali pirate Saeed Yare tells Reuters —while reclining against his luxe Toyota Landcruiser—that he raked in $2.4 million last year. He raked that in by investing in... More »

Danish Family Knew They Might Be Hijacked by Pirates

Parents, teens had prepared a 'piracy plan'

(Newser) - The Danish family that was captured by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Thursday wasn't caught unawares, reports the AP . The family—a couple with three children, ages 12 to 16—had written on a travel blog that they were in daily contact with anti-piracy forces, and had prepped a... More »

Children on Sailboat Hijacked by Pirates

Danish family captured in Indian Ocean

(Newser) - Somali pirates have seized child hostages for what is believed to be the first time. The three children aged 12 to 16 were aboard a Danish sailboat hijacked as it crossed the Indian Ocean, AP reports. Their parents and two Danish crew members were also captured. Danish officials say the... More »

Pirates Kill All 4 American Hostages

US officials have killed or captured all the pirates

(Newser) - The four Americans on a yacht captured by Somali pirates Friday have been shot and killed by their captors, NBC News reports, and US forces killed two pirates and captured the remaining 13. Phyllis Macay, Robert Riggle and the yacht’s owners Jean and Scott Adam were captured on a... More »

Somali Pirates Hijack 4 Americans

California couple on round-the-world mission since 2004

(AP) - Somali pirates yesterday hijacked a yacht with four Americans aboard, in likely retaliation for the 33-year prison sentence this week of a pirate in the hijacking of the US vessel Maersk Alabama. The yacht Quest belongs to missionaries Jean and Scott Adam, who have been sailing around the world since... More »

Somali Pirate Gets 33 Years in Prison

Federal judge says Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse deserves his harsh sentence

(AP) - A Somali pirate who kidnapped and brutalized the captain of a US-flagged merchant ship off the coast of Africa in 2009 was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison today by an emotional judge who told him he deserved a stiff punishment for leading a crew of bandits who... More »

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