Police officer killed over parking spot

Police officer slain in parking disputeNEW: Police say first-degree murder charges are filed against 25-year-old Sian James Police identify the deceased detective as Brian StevensonThe officer was out celebrating his 38th birthdayHe was bludgeoned with a piece of concrete, police say

(CNN) -- First-degree murder charges have been filed against a man who Baltimore, Maryland, police believe killed an off-duty detective by striking him in the head during a dispute over a parking space, authorities said Sunday.

Sian James, 25, is suspected in the death of Brian Stevenson, an 18-year police veteran, who was out celebrating his 38th birthday with a friend late Saturday night when an argument ensued over a parking spot outside a restaurant, police said.

According to witnesses, James picked up a piece of concrete and threw it at Stevenson, hitting him in the head.

The attack occurred around 10 p.m. Stevenson was rushed to Johns Hopkins hospital, where he died.

Police say James fled the scene and was apprehended later at a nearby night club.

"Dozens of officers, investigators and civilian personnel put their lives on hold and worked throughout the night to identify Mr. James as a suspect and bring him to Justice. I'm very proud and honored to lead such a dedicated group of public safety professionals," said Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick Bealefeld.

He described Stevenson as a "fantastic" detective.

"To lose his life in this manner is senseless," Bealefeld said at a press conference early Sunday morning.

"Detective Stevenson was a good man, a good investigator and a great public servant to the people of Baltimore," he said. "His death is an incredible tragedy to not only his family, but to the entire city and to every man and woman who wears the police uniform."

It was not immediately clear whether the attacker knew Stevenson was a police detective.

View the original article here

Australia gets its first Catholic saint

A portrait of Australia's first saint Sister Mary MacKillop is draped from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square on Sunday.NEW: She was a feminist before her time, a Catholic author saysThe Catholic Church credits her with miraculously curing a woman's cancerNuns in Mother Mary MacKillop's order reported an abusive priest, leading to excommunicationShe is known as the first Australian nun to minister to the continent's rural poor

(CNN) -- Australia got its first Catholic saint Sunday, a feisty 19th-century nun who was briefly excommunicated when her colleagues exposed an abusive priest.

Mary MacKillop co-founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1867, and gained a reputation as the first Australian nun to leave the cities and minister to the rural poor.

Nuns in her order got evidence that a priest was engaged in "scandalous behavior," according to the Rev. Paul Gardiner, who has spent decades researching MacKillop's life.

The nuns reported it to the Rev. Julian Woods, MacKillop's first spiritual mentor who co-founded the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Woods in turn reported the abuse to church authorities, resulting in the Rev. Ambrose Patrick Keating being sent back to Ireland from Kapunda, Australia.

But Keating's friends "were really upset with Father Woods and thought they could best get at him by getting at Mary," said Claire Larkin, the chair of the Mary MacKillop Centre in Penola, Australia.

"They told a lot of lies to the bishop," who excommunicated MacKillop and the entire order in 1871, she said.

Bishop James Quinn revoked the excommunication five months later, on his deathbed, the order says in its biography of Mary MacKillop.

But she still had to spend decades fighting local Catholic leaders for control of the order she founded.

"She was a charismatic entrepreneur," the Rev. Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican," told CNN. "She was a feminist before her time. She struggled in a male-dominated institution and got things done."

Her familiarity with church politics may have played a role in the instructions she issued to her nuns when women got the vote in Australia.

"It is the duty on us all to vote ... Get advice from some leading man in whom you have confidence or from the priest, but keep your voting secret," she wrote in 1903.

The order grew to include 300 nuns in Australia and New Zealand by 1891, its website says, and now has about 1,200 members.

She died in 1909 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995.

The Catholic Church credits her with miraculously helping to cure a woman named Kathleen Evans of cancer.

She took to wearing a piece of MacKillop's clothing pinned to her nightgown and asked her family and friends to pray for MacKillop to intervene with God on her behalf.

Her cancer disappeared, Evans said in a statement.

Pope Benedict XVI recognized the cure as a miracle in December 2009, and announced two months later that MacKillop would be canonized.

He praised her "courageous and saintly example of zeal, perseverance and prayer" on Sunday in canonizing her as St. Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

Some 4,000 people attended an outdoor mass Sunday to celebrate the canonization in Penola, where she started her ministry in a disused stable.

"It's so exciting, we've had a marvellous day," Larkin said from Penola.

"It's been a long journey" to sainthood, she said. "Her dream started in a little country outback town, to think that she's gotten that recognition."

View the original article here

Merkel: Multiculturalism has 'failed'

Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a meeting on Saturday during which she said multiculturalism had failed in Germany.Chancellor: The approach of saying "let's coexist and enjoy each other ... has failed"Immigrants must learn German and be educated in Germany, she told CNN last monthGermany is about 5 percent Muslim, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life estimates

Berlin, Germany (CNN) -- Multiculturalism in Germany has "absolutely failed," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party's youth wing at a conference Saturday.

"The approach of saying, 'Well, let's just go for a multicultural society, let's coexist and enjoy each other,' this very approach has failed, absolutely failed," she said in a speech.

The remarks echo a comment she made to CNN last month in response to a question from Becky Anderson about Germany's Muslim population.

"We've all understood now that immigrants are a part of our country, (but) they have to speak our language, they have receive an education here," Merkel told CNN's "Connect the World" program September 27.

Germany's population is about 5 percent Muslim, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life estimated last year. Its roughly 4 million Muslims make up the largest Muslim population in western Europe.

View the original article here

New al Qaeda threat targets Europe, 'notably France'

France's terror alert level is at Reinforced Red, the second-highest level.French interior minister says nation remains vigilantWarning comes at a time of heightened security in EuropeThe U.S. and other nations have warned against travel in Europe

Paris, France (CNN) -- Saudi Arabian intelligence services are warning of a new terrorist threat from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targeting Europe, especially France, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said in a radio interview Sunday.

"Several days ago the Saudi services alerted their European counterparts that there was a terrorist threat on the continent, notably in France, coming from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," Hortefeux told RTL Radio. The message indicated the branch of al Qaeda was active or about to become active in Europe.

"The threat is real and our vigilance is intact," he said. France's terror alert level is at Reinforced Red, the second-highest level below Scarlette Red. "Vigilance is total," Hortefeux said.

At least two attacks were foiled in France in the past year, and 61 people are currently jailed for suspected involvement in terrorism, the interior minister said.

The new warning comes at a time of heightened security in Europe. Earlier this month, France warned its citizens about travel to the United Kingdom, saying British authorities believe a terrorist attack is "highly likely." Neither the U.K. nor France raised its threat level, but each issued warnings about travel elsewhere on the continent.

The United States also warned Americans to be careful about traveling in Europe because of the risk of terror attacks. Sweden and Japan also warned their citizens.

Europe remains on edge after the warnings, based at least partly on intelligence about a plot obtained from a German-Afghan in U.S. custody in Afghanistan.

Police in France earlier this month seized 12 people for suspected terrorist ties in southern France.

On Friday, Australia raised its travel warning level for Yemen to the highest level, advising citizens not to travel there "because of the very high threat of terrorist attack and volatile security situation."

Since its inception in January 2009, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabian, Korean, Yemeni and U.S. targets.

CNN's Pat Thompson contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Who will win the Nobel Peace Prize?

Contenders include Chinese dissident, Zimbabwean politician, Russian rights groupThe Nobel committee keeps nominations secretIt's had a record number of nominations this year

(CNN) -- A week of Nobel Prize announcements comes to a climax on Friday with the unveiling of the winner of the Peace Prize, perhaps the world's most prestigious award.

But who's going to win it? Guessing can be tricky, not least because the names of the nominees are secret.

We do know that there are a record number of nominees this year, since committee head Geir Lundestad has said 199 individuals and 38 organizations are in the running.

And the Norwegian Nobel Committee seems to like springing surprises. Few had heard of Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi before she won the prize in 2003, or of Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai before she got it the following year.

And while practically everyone has heard of the 2009 Nobel Laureate, President Barack Obama, practically no one expected him to win the prize within a year of taking office.

That said, it's always fun to guess, so here are some of CNN's top contenders:

Liu Xiaobo: The leading Chinese dissident was sentenced to 11 years in prison late in 2009 for inciting subversion of state power. He's the co-author of Charter 08, a call for political reform and human rights, and was an adviser to the student protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

His sentencing prompted a groundswell of support for him from former Peace Prize laureates and perennial contenders.

Vaclav Havel, the hero of Czechoslovakia's 1989 Velvet Revolution (who never won the Nobel Prize), retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who did, in 1984) and the Dalai Lama (1989) were among a group of intellectuals who publicly urged the Nobel Committee to give the prize to Liu shortly after he was sentenced.

American writer Kwame Anthony Appiah, the head of the American PEN center, a literary and human rights organization, nominated Liu in January, he said.'

The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said it would be "totally wrong" for "such a person" to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and that the comment was later scrubbed from the official transcript of the briefing.

The Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has already paid out on bets for him to win the prize, it announced Wednesday after a surge in betting led it to suspect that information had leaked.

Memorial: Born of the violence and repression that accompanied the final days of the Soviet Union, the Russian human rights group now focuses on monitoring "hot spots" or conflict zones within the country -- a task that has proven deadly.

The group's leading activist in Chechnya, Natalya Estimirova, was kidnapped and murdered in July 2009. She was shot in the head and the chest, and her body was dumped in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia.

Estimirova had worked in Chechnya for more than 10 years and had openly criticized Chechnya's Moscow-backed president, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his methods.

Her murder outraged human rights activists worldwide. Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the European Union and the United States were among those appealing to Russia to conduct a transparent investigation of the crime.

Mary Robinson: The first woman to be president of Ireland went on to be the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, a post she held from 1997 to 2002. After she left the United Nations, she founded a new organization, Realizing Rights, which aims "to put human rights standards at the heart of global governance and policy-making and to ensure that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable are addressed on the global stage."

Robinson also is a member of the Elders, a group of leading statesmen and stateswomen brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela -- himself a Nobel Laureate -- to support peace building and try to address the major causes of human suffering. The 13 current, former and honorary Elders include six Nobel Peace Prize winners.

Robinson trained as a lawyer and has argued cases before the European Court of Human Rights, the European Court in Luxembourg, and Irish courts.

Morgan Tsvangirai: The longtime leader of the opposition to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe entered an uneasy power-sharing agreement with his rival in 2009, becoming prime minister. Tsvangirai has led the Movement for Democratic Change since 1999, surviving three assassination attempts, beatings and imprisonment.

He rejects the charge that he "sold out" or gave legitimacy to Mugabe with the power-sharing agreement.

"The country was confronted with chaos and anarchy. We rescued our country and saved it in order to have the long-term stability that we are looking for," he told CNN last month.

He continues to press for "a credible and legitimate election" in Zimbabwe, he said.

Sima Samar: The chairperson of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission, Samar is a medical doctor who fled Afghanistan when its communist regime arrested her husband in 1984.

She remained in exile until 2002 when she was appointed as a women's affairs minister in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's transitional administration.

She's done work on human rights around the world, not only in Afghanistan. She served as the United Nations special rapportuer for human rights in Sudan from 2005 to 2009, and was considered for the post of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, according to an organization which tries to predict Nobel Peace Prize winners.

"She has been under frequent attacks both from conservative religious leaders and from Islamist radicals, and she is a prominent voice for the rights of women," the Peace Research Institute Oslo said, adding that she "does invite respect by being a principled and outspoken proponent of human rights and the need for a true reconciliatory process."

PRIO is not connected to the Norwegian Nobel Institute, which chooses the winners. Its director, Kristian Berg Harpviken, also considers the Democratic Voice of Burma news agency and the Special Court for Sierra Leone to be top contenders.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, Robyn Curnow and Arthur Brice contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Official: Yemeni forces battling al Qaeda

The French Cultural Center takes security precations in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a last week.Ground and air campaigns began SaturdayAt least 6 militants have been killedWestern embassies are on high security alert

(CNN) -- Yemen was carrying out airstrikes and a ground campaign Sunday against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the southern part of the nation, according to a government official.

"Yemen's security forces have been in engaged in a ground and air campaign for two days in Abyan province against al Qaeda," said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the press about the campaign. The official said the battle is fierce and bloody and is part of a larger low-intensity conflict with AQAP.

The airstrikes began on Saturday and were continuing on Sunday, the official said. "This is no doubt in retaliation to an attempt by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to kill the governor and junior regional security officials this past week."

At least six militants have been killed, the official said, as the airstrikes targeted militant gatherings in the province's Lawdar and Moudeya districts.

"Western embassies in Sana'a were put on high security alert -- especially the British and American embassies," the official said, referring to Yemen's capital. "The government of Yemen has increased security outside those embassies and they were heavily fortified in fears of AQAP retaliation."

Residents of Sana'a have been hearing the fighter jets as they fly south toward the operations, the official said.

Tribesmen from Abyan province are supporting the provincial governor after AQAP killed his brother in an ambush aimed at assassinating the governor himself, the official said.

Saturday night, two suicide bombers were killed after their vehicle, which was rigged with explosives, attempted to ram a military motorcade in Moudeya, the official said. The car exploded after Yemeni forces shot at the suspicious vehicle with high-caliber machine guns.

On Friday, a man accused of financing al Qaeda in Yemen -- another name for AQAP -- was arrested at Sana'a International Airport. Yemen's Ministry of Interior said Saturday the suspect, Saleh al-Raimi, is a Yemeni expatriate living in Saudi Arabia and that he was "wanted for financing al Qaeda terrorist acts in Yemen."

Also Friday, the Interior Ministry offered a reward of 20 million Yemeni riyal (about U.S. $100,000) for information leading to the capture of eight suspected members of al Qaeda in Yemen. The nation's official Saba news agency identified the eight, urging the public to cooperate and warning citizens not to shelter any of the suspects.

And a wanted al Qaeda in Yemen member turned himself in to Saudi Arabian authorities on Friday, Saudi Arabia's official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing a security spokesman at the country's Ministry of Interior. The statement added that the man, Jaber bin Jibran bin Ali al-Afifi, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, had rejoined al Qaeda in Yemen after he had returned from captivity.

In the past week, AQAP is suspected of being behind three separate attacks that have killed at least two Yemeni security officials, according to a government official.

Last week also saw the release of an audio recording purported to be from Qassim al-Rimi (also known as Abu Hurira al-Sanaei), the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, that was posted on radical militant websites. The speaker promised that Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, would be punished "for his crimes" and announced that a new army would rid the country of "crusaders and apostates." CNN could not verify the authenticity of the recording.

View the original article here

Search slows for 2 miners in Ecuador

Two miners leave the "Black House" mine where four of their colleagues became trapped.Workers are believed to be just shy of where the missing miners might beLarge rocks and wood blocks frustrate their progress The men underground are thought to have enough air for a few more days

(CNN) -- Large rocks and wood blocks slowed the progress of rescue workers trying to reach the remaining two miners in southern Ecuador believed trapped underground, the state-run news agency reported Sunday.

Four miners were trapped in a cave-in at the mine that happened early Friday. The bodies of two of the miners were found Saturday, while two more remained missing.

Nonrenewable Resources Minister Carlos Pareja said rescue workers are just about 26 feet (8 meters) shy of the site they believe the two missing men might be, according to the Andes news agency. The miners are thought to be about 500 feet (150 meters) deep.

The incident comes just days after crews in Chile rescued 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months -- in a stunning operation that was watched by the world.

"There's not far to go, but the distance that remains is the most difficult," Pareja said, according to Andes.

He explained that workers were previously digging through a type of mud. Now they must burrow through hard rock and wood, put inside the mine to help support it, which has slowed their progress.

Officials have not had any contact with the two missing men and do not know whether they are dead or alive.

The gold mine, which officials say is owned by Minesadco, is located near the town of Portovelo, near Ecuador's southern border with Peru.

Jorge Espinosa, under-secretary of mining development at the ministry of nonrenewable resources, said Friday there was enough air for the miners to breathe for five or six days.

View the original article here

Congolese rape victims say 'enough!'

Women march against rape in DRCRape is a weapon of war in CongoEastern Congo has 15,000 rape victims just from last yearThe march aims to combat a societal stigma attached to rape victimsMany women left hospital beds to join event

Bukavu, Democratic Republic Of Congo (CNN) -- Many of Congo's rape survivors took to the streets Sunday to speak out against sexual violence in a county where it has become a weapon of war.

"My heart is in pain, why are you raping me?" sang the rape victims, many of whom left hospital beds to join the march in eastern Congo.

"They have had enough, enough, enough, enough," said Nita Vielle, a Congolese women's activist, of the women marching. "Enough of the war, of the rape, of nobody paying attention to what's happening to them."

The United Nations has named the Democratic Republic of Congo the "rape capital of the world," with 15,000 women raped in eastern Congo last year. The attacks occurred in parts of the country where armed rebel groups moved into areas considered to be pro-government but lacking in army or police protection, according to the U.N.

Margot Wallstrom, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said recently that one distraught Congolese woman had told her that "a dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman."

"It was an expression of how human rights violations against women are still the lowest on a fool's hierarchy of war time horrors," she said.

Sunday's march was organized by the World March of Women in association with local women's groups. Organizers hoped the march would combat the stigma attached to rape victims and draw international attention to the problem of rape as a war tactic.

"It's just great to have so many women out on the streets," said Celia Alldridge, a representative from World March of Women. "We believe that women should not be made prisoners in their own homes."

Among throngs of marchers, many clad in bright traditional garb and carrying homemade signs, one Congolese marcher echoed that sentiment.

"I tell you it's a wonderful thing to see all the women together, just for one reason for the peace of the women of Congo," said Mary Georges. "This is the freedom of the Congo women."

Last month, a U.N. report slammed Congo's security forces for failing prevent a wave of mass rapes over several days during the summer.

The preliminary report confirms the rape of at least 303 civilians between July 30 and August 2 in the Walikale region of Congo's North Kivu province.

The report points to serious shortcomings in the preparedness and response of the local detachments of the Congolese army and the police stationed in the area.

It also notes that their failure to prevent or stop the attacks was compounded by subsequent failings on the part of U.N. stabilization mission forces in Congo.

The report said the force had not received any specific training in the protection of civilians, and suffered from a number of operational constraints, including a limited capacity to gather information, as well as the lack of a telecommunications system in the area.

"The scale and viciousness of these mass rapes defy belief," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

"Even in the eastern part of DRC where rape has been a perennial and massive problem for the past 15 years, this incident stands out," Pillay said, "because of the extraordinarily cold-blooded and systematic way in which it appears to have been planned and executed."

View the original article here

Philippines on alert as typhoon nears

The Philippines' government is alarmed by the speed and strength of the typhoon, one official said.NEW: Super Typhoon Megi carries sustained winds of about 287 kph (178 mph)Super Typhoon Megi, also known as Juan, is expected to make landfall MondayWinds could be in excess of 200 kph as it hits northern Luzon

(CNN) -- Emergency crews in the Philippines were on standby Monday morning as the island nation braced for a "super typhoon" that could trigger flooding and landslides.

Super Typhoon Megi, also known as Juan, is expected to make landfall midday Monday at or near super-typhoon strength, with winds possibly in excess of 200 kph (124 mph), according to Mario Montejo, secretary of the Philippines' science and technology.

On Monday morning, Megi carried sustained winds of 287 kph (178 mph) with gusts up to 350 kph (217 kph) as it headed toward the Philippines, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

"Tropical storm force winds and heavy rain squalls are already affecting areas along the coast," CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said. "From this point forward the weather conditions are expected to rapidly deteriorate."

CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera called Megi a "monster storm."

Beyond high winds, large swaths of the northern island of Luzon will see 300 mm (12 inches) of rain, while more isolated pockets may see up to 500 mm (20 inches), Ward said.

A typhoon of this intensity could cause storm surge as high as 6 to 8 meters, threatening population centers along the coast.

As of 5 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) Sunday, the typhoon was about 390 kilometers east of Aparri, Cagayan, according to the state-run Philippines News Agency. It was moving west at about 22 kph.

Montejo said the government is alarmed by the speed and strength of the typhoon. He warned of potentially devastating effects the storm may wreak on Luzon.

"The winds have been steadily increasing," James Reynolds, a storm chaser who is on Luzon, told CNN Monday morning.

"Unfortunately, this is a part of the world where the infrastructure is quite fragile, the power grid is quite fragile and a lot of people live in quite basic houses," he said.

Residents in low-lying and coastal areas are advised to head for safer locations, and authorities are discussing the possibility of forced evacuations.

As the storm moves across the rugged terrain of Luzon, it is expected to decrease in intensity before moving out over the South China Sea. Megi is expected to dump large amounts of rainfall over the mountains, which could potentially trigger mudslides and localized flooding.

The typhoon could also damage large amounts of agricultural land along its path.

"Thousands of hectares are in danger of being ruined," Cabrera said.

On Sunday, Philippine navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement that disaster response personnel equipped with rubber boats and other life-saving equipment are on standby in several areas.

View the original article here

Lottery deja vu in Israeli game

A woman buys a lottery ticket from a special kiosk in central Jerusalem on Sunday.Israel's national lottery produced same six double-digit numbers in less than a monthOfficials feared problems after the same numbers came up a second timeBut after finding nothing amiss results of the second drawing were certifiedThree win more than $1 million each from second drawing of 36, 33, 32, 26, 14, 13

(CNN) -- The odds may have been in the trillions-to-one range, but lightning has indeed struck twice for some lucky lottery players in Israel.

The national biweekly lottery draw Saturday led to the astronomically improbable result of the same six double-digit balls being pulled in less than a month.

The Miphal HaPayis state game picked 36, 33, 32, 26, 14, 13 and the "strong number" 2 as the winning combination.

But a quick look at the results caused panic and amazement: the same first six numbers had been picked in exact reverse order and won the lottery on September 21. The only difference was the "strong number," which determines the first prize jackpot.

Anyone who played those six numbers on both dates won big -- twice.

Lottery officials at first pulled Saturday's result, fearing there was a mechanical error or some sort of tampering with the results.

That's understandable as the statistical probability of that six-number combination is normally one-in-2.65 million. But a gaming and mathematics expert interviewed by Israeli website Ynetnews set the chances that the same numbers would hit twice somewhere around four trillion to one.

"Usually, this is the type of numbers they use to describe the probability of life on Mars," Zvi Gilula, a professor of statistics at the Hebrew University said.

But after investigating the drawing and finding no problems, lottery officials certified Saturday's results, leading to three first-prize winners earning over $1 million dollars each.

The lottery's official website cited a statistician explaining, "this is a rare coincidence of identical results in two different lotteries."

According to Haim Melamed, "Combinations of such statistics, despite being rare, can occur and hence, a combination that already occurred in the lottery (can) have a chance to rise again ... like every other combination."

View the original article here

Report: Pirates hijack S. Korean boat

The "Keummi 305" was fishing in Kenyan watersThe waters were considered safe from piracyA crew of 43 is on board

(CNN) -- A South Korean fishing boat was hijacked by Somali pirates off the coast of Africa, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, citing the nation's foreign ministry.

The 241-ton trawler "Keummi 305," with a crew of 43, was hijacked October 9 while fishing in Kenyan waters, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) off the coast of Lamu, Kenya, near the Indian Ocean, Yonhap said. The crew is comprised of 39 Kenyans, two South Koreans and two Chinese, according to the news agency.

Citing a South Korean citizen living in Mombasa, Kenya, Yonhap reported the boat was taken to Harardhere, a pirate base north of the Somalian capital of Mogadishu.

"Given past instances, it would put the hostages in even more danger if the government tried to negotiate directly with the pirates," a ministry official told Yonhap. "We're trying to find out more about the incident using all possible channels."

One of the South Koreans aboard the boat is a 54-year-old captain who is the president of Keummi Fishers, a company based in Busan, South Korea, Yonhap said. Officials at the Keummi boat dealership told the news agency the company had closed its Busan office in 2007 because of financial difficulties, and the captain, with the surname Kim, had been steering the ship himself for two years as a cost-cutting measure.

A boat dealership official told Yonhap they have received no communication from the pirates but expect to soon.

The Keummi 305 was in waters more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) away from the pirates' base, according to the news agency. The waters were considered safe because of the distance, as well as regular patrols conducted by the Kenyan navy.

Six South Korean boats or vessels have been hijacked by Somali pirates since 2006, Yonhap said. Most recently, the supertanker Samho Dream, with 19 Filipinos and five South Koreans on board, was seized in April in the Indian Ocean. It remains in captivity, the news agency said.

View the original article here