KIDNAPPED Britons Paul and Rachel Chandler might be freed for much less than the seven million-dollar (€4.75m) ransom demand, a hostage negotiator said yesterday.

Samuel L. Jackson is following in Johnny Depp's buccaneer footsteps, and starring in a new movie about pirates.

Somali pirates holding a Taiwan-flagged fishing vessel since mid-May killed one of the 16 crew members because the ship’s owners have not paid a ransom, a maritime official said today.

Pirates hijacked a cargo ship delivering UN food aid to north-eastern Somalia today, officials said.

A cargo ship carrying 20,000 tonnes of coal sank off the coast of Somalia, and a rescue mission was under way to save the crew, officials said today.