Hostage negotiators will not meet Somali pirates’ £4.2m (€4.7m) ransom demand for the safe return of Paul and Rachel Chandler, it appeared today.

The Somali pirates who kidnapped Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler tonight demanded a $7m (€4.75m) ransom.

South African president Thabo Mbeki was regularly informed of the progress of an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea which was also sanctioned by the United States, Britain and Spain, a state witness testified today.