KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A maritime official says pirates have hijacked a Thai fishing boat with 16 crew members off the coast of Somalia — the eighth ship seized in the area in the past two weeks.
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Navy reported that pirates had seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.
Elsewhere, pirates anchored a Saudi supertanker, hijacked over the weekend and loaded with $100 million in crude oil, off the Somali coast Tuesday, causing residents in impoverished fishing villages to gawk in amazement at the size of the 1,080-foot tanker.
With few other options, shipowners in past piracy cases have ended up paying ransoms for their ships, cargos and crew.
Netherlands: Woman says man confessed in teen’s disappearance
A new witness has come forward in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, and prosecutors said Tuesday they are seeking more evidence against the only remaining suspect. A woman told Dutch police this month that Joran van der Sloot confessed to her years ago that he was involved in Holloway’s disappearance, according to a spokeswoman for the Aruba Prosecutors’ Office. But the prosecutor said the witness would lack credibility in court unless she explains why she waited so long to come forward.
Gaza Strip: Israeli tanks enter
Israeli tanks pushed into the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, drawing mortar fire from Palestinian militants and intensifying violence that has chipped away at a tenuous cease-fire. Residents said the tanks leveled lands along the border east of the city of Rafah near the Egyptian border. The Israeli military described the activity as “a routine operation to uncover explosive devices.”
California: Bonfire blamed for wildfire
A bonfire built by a group of young adults caused a weekend wildfire in Santa Barbara that destroyed 210 homes, including multimillion-dollar mansions, and injured more than two dozen people, authorities said Tuesday. An anonymous tip led to the discovery that 10 college students had gathered for a late night hangout at an abandoned property where the fire originated, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. The college group left the smoldering bonfire in the middle of the night and the embers sparked the wildfire 13 to 14 hours later, Brown said. No criminal charges have been filed, but the county district attorney will review the case, Brown said. The fire was the first of three blazes to erupt in Southern California in the last week which have collectively damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes and blacked more than 65 square miles.
Massachusetts: Raided factory to pay workers, including illegals, who sued
The former owners of a New Bedford leather goods factory raided last year by immigration agents will pay $850,000 to former workers — including illegal immigrants — for unpaid wages and overtime to settle a 2007 lawsuit claiming the company violated wage laws, attorneys said Tuesday. Michael Bianco Inc. will pay more than $600,000 to 764 former employees. The remaining money will go for such things as legal fees and contributions to community groups that work with immigrants. In March 2007, agents raided Michael Bianco and arrested 361 workers, mostly women from Central America, on federal immigration charges.
Arkansas: 21 kids seized from evangelical group
State officials on Tuesday took into protective custody 21 children associated with an evangelical group whose founder faces federal child sex charges. The children, all younger than 18 and part of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, were taken while custody hearings were being held for six girls seized during a September raid of 74-year-old Alamo’s compound in Fouke, in southwest Arkansas. The court must decide whether the girls should be returned to their parents or remain in state care.
Texas: Proposal to save wild horses
Madeleine Pickens, the wife of Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens said she’ll create a refuge of 1 million acres for wild horses, after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced it was considering euthanizing some of the animals. About 33,000 wild horses roam the open range in 10 Western states. In order to protect the herd, the range and other foraging animals, the BLM wants to have about 27,000 horses in the wild. So those too old or considered unadoptable are sent to long-term holding pens.
From Herald news services
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