Daily News Channel
European Union lawmakers voted Wednesday to slash the cost of texting and surfing the Internet on cell phones abroad. As of July 1, the cost of a text message sent from one EU country to another will drop from around €0.28 ($0.36) to €0.11 ($0.14). According to a statement on the European Union’s Web site, the age of consumers expecting “bill shocks” for downloading a picture or a movie from a cell phone while roaming in the EU is over
Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka faced another possible onslaught from government forces, as a mid-day deadline for them to surrender passed on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports from northern Sri Lanka where recent fighting has been taking place.
NATO forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden foiled a pirate attack on a Norwegian tanker this weekend, a NATO spokesman said. Pirates attempted to capture the MV Front Ardennes at 6 p.m.
A suspected leader of the Basque separatist group ETA and two alleged accomplices were arrested Saturday in a city near the southern coast of France, a CNN partner station reported, citing police sources. The key suspect arrested in the joint French-Spanish operation in Perpignan was identified as Jurdan Martitegui Lizaso, CNN+ said
The State Department Thursday called for a cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers to allow civilians to escape the fighting, after a two day humanitarian pause ended with renewed violence. “We call upon the government and military of Sri Lanka, and the Tamil Tigers to immediately stop hostilities until the more than 140,000 civilians in the conflict area are safely out,” Acting Spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement. “Both sides must immediately return to a humanitarian pause and both must respect the right of free movement of those civilian men, women and children trapped by the fighting.” Wood urged the government to halt shelling of the safe zone and allow international monitors into ensure the safe exit of the civilians
The French Navy captured 11 suspected pirates off the coast of Kenya Wednesday, the French Ministry of Defense announced. The Navy tracked the pirates overnight after they attacked a ship called the Safmarine Asia. The French launched a helicopter from the frigate Nivose to head off the attack Tuesday night, then seized the suspected pirates Wednesday morning, the statement said
Pirates hijacked a 35,000-ton Greek-owned bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, the European Union’s Maritime Security Center said. The crew was thought to be unhurt and ships have been warned to stay clear of the area for fear of further attack, the security center said
A British-owned cargo ship on Monday became the latest vessel to be seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The 32,000-tonne Malaspina Castle was taken early on Monday and was believed to be heading towards Somalia’s pirate-infested coast, the European Union’s Horn of Africa maritime security center said. “Few details are known at this stage, but the mixed-nationality crew is believed to be safe,” a statement on the London-based organization’s Web site said
To what extent has the outcome of today’s meeting of 19 leading economies and the European Union already been agreed? That’s the $2 trillion question. The sum is the proposed level of fiscal stimulus by G-20 nations identified in an early leaked draft of the final communiqué expected later today.
Seven suspected pirates are in German custody after they fired on a naval tanker off the coast of Somalia and were pursued by warships, the German military said. Well, researchers are hoping that a potential April Fool’s time bomb — the Conficker.c that is supposed to hit computers on April 1 — turns out to be equally unfounded