14 SOMALI PIRATES CAPTURED

Fourteen suspected Somali pirates have been captured in separate operations by a French frigate and the Seychelles coast guard.

French commandos on the frigate Nivose caught 11 suspects some 900 kms (560 miles) off the Somali coast, the French Defence Ministry says.

The Nivose is reported to have alerted the Seychelles authorities to help them capture the other three.

Somali pirates are currently holding nearly 20 ships for ransom.

On Saturday a Greek-owned ship with a Ukrainian crew was hijacked by Somali pirates south-west of the Seychelles, a seafarers’ group says.

On the same day a Portuguese warship thwarted an attack on a Norwegian vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the French navy, the commandos on the Nivose used fast outboard vessels and a helicopter to detain the 11 Somali suspects who were on three vessels, the AFP news agency reports.

SOURCED FROM BBC

EGYPTIAN POLICE CLASH WITH FARMERS OVER PIGS SLAUGHTER

Egyptian pig farmers have clashed with police in Cairo, as they tried to stop their animals being slaughtered. Hundreds of people at the Manshiyat Nasr slum threw stones and bottles at police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. The government wants to cull all the nation’s pigs, a move UN experts say is not necessary to prevent swine flu. Egypt’s pigs mostly belong to the Coptic Christian minority who say the cull has reignited religious tensions. The authorities initially said the pig cull was a precaution against swine flu but now describe as a general public health measure. There have been no cases of swine flu reported in Egypt. In Mexico, where the global swine flu outbreak started, the authorities said it could be stabilising

There are estimated to be more than 300,000 pigs in Egypt, but the World Health Organisation says there is no evidence there of the animals transmitting swine flu to humans.

Pig-farming and consumption is concentrated in Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority, estimated at 10% of the population.

Many are reared in slum areas by rubbish collectors who use the pigs to dispose of organic waste. They say the cull will harm their businesses and has renewed tensions with Egypt’s Muslim majority.

On Saturday, health officials began the slaughter in earnest, moving in on a Cairo slum where rubbish collectors are said to keep around 60,000 pigs.

The slaughter is expected to take around a month

SOURCED FROM BBC