news without borders11theSun | FRIDAY OCTOBER 16 2009

Pirates seize S’porecontainer shipNAIROBI: Somali pirates seized aSingapore-flagged container ship yesterday in the Indian Ocean, assubsiding seasonal winds nearthe Seychelles allow hijackersback on the high seas.

“The Singapore flagged andowned boxship Kota Wajar wasseized around 300 nautical milesnorth the Seychelles,” said AndrewMwangura, who heads the Kenyanchapter of East African SeafarersAssistance Programme.

He said the ship had 21 crewmembers and had been headingto the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

A maritime source in the area,who did not wish to be identified,said that the attack took placeearly yesterday, 24 nautical milesfrom the site of recent attacks onFrench tuna-fishing boats. – AFP

Polanski bids tofinish movie in jailLONDON: Director RomanPolanski is finishing work onhis latest film from a Swiss jailwhere he is fighting extraditionto the US on a 1977 sex charge,writer Robert Harris was quotedas saying on Wednesday.

Harris, who wrote thescreenplay for the movie,The Ghost , told The  Times inLondon Polanski wanted tofinish the movie in time for itsplanned premiere at the Berlinfilm festival in February.

“He (Polanski) can make hiswishes known from his cell. Idon’t think he can make phonecalls, but he can communicate.

Polanski, 76, was arrestedin Zurich last month. He iswanted in Los Angeles to facesentencing on a 1977 chargeof having unlawful sex with a13-year-old girl. – Reuters

New York Times holds on to GlobeWASHINGTON: The New YorkTimes Co has decided not to sellthe Boston Globe in a reversal thedaily said was apparently due tolow bids for the struggling daily.

 briefs

The Times said two biddinggroups had reportedly madepreliminary offers of about US$35million (RM122.5 million) in cashfor the New England daily.

The newspaper said the deci-sion not to sell the Globe was “anindication that (the Times Co) didnot think the bids it received werehigh enough to merit a sale”. Itsaid the Globe’s financial positionhad “significantly improved”.

The Times Co bought the Bos-ton Globe for US$1.1 billion (RM3.8billion) in 1993 but the value of thenewspaper has plummeted sincethen, along with the fortunes ofthe US newspaper industry. – AFP

Briton jailed for givingcigarette to childLONDON: A British man, whogave a three-year-old girl a ciga-rette to smoke while anotherchild filmed it, was jailed for 18months yesterday.

Graeme Conroy, 31, handedthe lit cigarette to the little girl,who cannot be named for legalreasons, and encouraged herto inhale it, Newcastle CrownCourt was told.

He then persuaded a 14-year-old child to film the incident,which occurred in February, on amobile phone. He could be heardlaughing as the girl puffed awayand someone is heard saying:“She’ll smoke it all herself.”

He was caught after a 16-year-old witness reported what hadhappened to police. – Reuters

Britney’s singledebuts at No. 1LOS ANGELES: Oops, BritneySpears has done it again, withthe US pop singer cementing hercomeback with a new single “3”  rocketing to No. 1 in its debutweek.

Proving her popularity has notwaned despite a personal and ca-reer meltdown in 2007 and 2008,“ 3” entered the Billboard Hot 100chart at the top, making her thefirst artist with a debut No. 1 inmore than three years, Billboardsaid on Wednesday.

The single, from her new albumThe Singles Collection due out onNov 10, is the first No. 1 debut sinceTaylor Hicks’ 2006 hit Do I Make YouProud and the first non-”AmericanIdol” song to enter the chart at No.1 in almost 11 years. – Reuters

PETALING JAYA: Four men,believed to be members of the“Camry Moo Gang” car-jackingsyndicate, which is suspectedof stealing 30 Toyota cars, havebeen arrested.

Three of them, all in their 30s,were nabbed on Jalan PJS 10 inSunway after a shootout withpolice at 11.30pm on Mondaywhen they tried to drive away awhite Toyota Camry.

Petaling Jaya OCPD ACPArjunaidi Mohamed said yes-terday the three, who were at the scene with a stolen blackToyota Camry, tried to escapewhen they saw a patrol car.

“One of the suspects in thewhite Camry rammed the front of the patrol car, reversed andknocked the car again and thefront end of the Camry ended upon top of the bonnet of the patrolcar,” he told a news conference.

The suspect then fired severalshots at the police who returnedfire before arresting the three.

The police followed up witha raid on a house in Kuala

Lumpur on Tuesday and ar-rested a fourth person suspectedof being a middle man.

Also seized were two car keys,22 false number plates, 13 falseroad tax registration, eight sidemirrors, a long parang , two keyduplicating machines and equip-ment to disable car alarms.

Arjunaidi said the gang mem-bers would scout for vehiclesat parking lots and disable thealarm before driving away withthe vehicle.

The syndicate has been ac-tive for the past four monthsand is believed to have stolen 28other Toyota vehicles includingthe Camry, Hilux and Fortunermodels.

The white and black Camrysrecovered were reported stolenin Subang Jaya on Oct 7 and 12.

Police are looking for othermembers of the syndicate whichhas a network in the Klang Val-ley and is suspected to be behindthe thefts of a Toyota Hilux andan Altis car from Eastin Hotelhere on Oct 10. – Bernama

Police nab four ‘CamryMoo Gang’ members