In the UK, for past 5 years now,  5 people in area of kilburn in teh capital city of london have had a death threat since 2004.

The police and government have been asked to cooperate, a media blackout imposed, the main victim only told in 2006 that he had a death threat by the people behind the crime. The other victims were told they had a death threat in 2005.

The crime itself is an illegal broadcast like that from a loudspeaker or a speaker of pc or wireless speaker as available in shops  put out over the area of kilburn, which is in london.

The illegal broadcast is used to follow the main victim who is the youngest of the 5 family members.

The method of broadcasting is over the internet by us made equipment using laptops in the area.

The family of five are kept hostage and police told not raid the area and end the assaults on the main victim by the people who have taken up residence like drifters in the area for temporary purpose of filling up housing toput out the broadcast , make up the numbers in the area and to attack any police officer or army person who attempts to do a rescue attempt.

The family is kept under constant surveillance by us made equipment and this is what is keeping the police and army from doing any rescue as well the boxes in the area around the family.

The main victim is continously attacked verbally and physically by the people behind the broadcast using the same box used to broadcast . It same box which the main victim there are at least 20 to 50 boxes in the area of kilburn to attack the main victim.

The people who broadcast illegally, also run an illegal radio channel to direct people to attack main victim and his family.

The four other victims are told to do as told by illegal radio channel in relation to main victim including telling fake stories to doctors in the health service in the uk about main victim’s health and also to pretend that main victim is not sane for those who illegally eavesdrop.

Also one victim is told to continously to come in to the view or hearing of the main victim so a story can be told about that victim on the illegal radio transmission apparently.

One victim is repeatedly forced into going to get married to women chosen by the illegal radio transmission, he unfortunately is picked on due to the belief that he will be easy to screw over and that he can never get married again.

All of this is played out in London and Pakistan, the family are told to carry on life normally so that the people behind death threat can tell courts afterwards they were not doing any death threat and the family were not being attacked. The family are allowed to go to shops etc to keep a pretence of normal goings on.

Also the people behind the crime will ask the family and people who live in the area to pretend that no illegal broadcast existed by even threatening people to withdraw cases at the local police station about the illegal broadcast.

The illegal broadcast started according to the broadcasters on 21st february 2005 and carried on day and night broadcasting at times to ensure sleep deprivation and physical attacks on the main victim and force people to sell up and leave the area.

The family are followed by paid people in cars and the boxes are aimed from cars and houses and flats along the routes taken by the family.

One victim is sent to Pakistan regularly to carry on pretending and there he is told to go to an arranged marriage bureau where a girl and her family have been prepared for another victim.

One victim has been extensively brainwashed into believing that main victim is mentally ill and forced under threat of death threat to make phone calls to people who have broken the law in the health service and who are assisting the criminals and racists.

The people behind the crime are from the uk and us and this crime only carries on to stop them being arrested. The family are being used as shields.

The illegal broadcast itself is apparently a psych-op crime. Basically ex-military types hired to carry out an attack on the family to stop police raiding the people who are paying for the crime.

The illegal broadcast is part of the pysch-op crime to distract the main victim while radio transmission instructs people to assault the main victim that is what has been said to the main victim.

The rest of the crime plan relies on dragging out and denying and delaying the crime. I call this the 3Ds as they are called. This is so that a government more favourable to the people behind the crime is elected in the uk.

The people who broadcast illegally say they are tory party supporters and members. What they are upto stop their extradition to us for financial fraud, terrorism, murder, fraud and stock market manipulation plus other charges.

Also using technology meant for blind people to see, they are able to put out images based on a sound frequency, i call these sound images. The images are normal tv images but can be seen if a person closes his/her eyes unlike tv images.

The main victim was to be put into mental hospital in the uk after the original plan to kill him failed in Pakistan.

The uk murder plan required accidental death claim to be made or due to medical negligence by the health service in the UK.

Also if the main victim survived all of these things, he is supposed to kill a family member to stop criminal charges being pressed against the people who paid for crime and people who broadcasted illegally. This was planned in 2005 to occur by now or next year 2010. The plan is to use a recording of another murder elsewhere and put it out again here in victim very own house and pass the murder as a mental problem.

The people who paid for the crime would contact the tory party for whom they planned to vote rig by usingpeople who they had paid over previous five year of hostage death threat and having fake news in the british media before the election in 2010 to cover up for vote rigging.

The tory party would be told that main victim was mentally ill and a disgruntled employee by health service staff who had broken the law in the uk to assist the criminals.

The  illegal broadcast has threatened to kill the family if any rescue attempt is made and used various victims in the kilburn area and in the united states such as the vtech student and in pakistan to stop any rescue attempt. I personally believe those were demonstrations of what these people could do but would be passed off later as people themselves dying naturally or accidently so these people could not be arrested for those crimes.

Also thanks to surveillance equipment which tapes the electromagnetic spectrum, the people behind the crime are able to rig sporting events using recordings made of a previous event . That same event is replayed on to a new set of people to get them to repeat the actual recording without their knowledge on the pitch. In my opinion this has been going on since 2002 season of uk premiership.

salman jafri

(c) 2009

So much in fact, that I never seem to have the time to record all my amazing adventures. Since the last time I wrote a post, I ended up at a birthday party that basically turned into a hostage situation over cake (they kept telling us the cake would get cut in 5 minutes but the 5 minutes weirdly enough took advantage of Einsteinian relativity and turned itself into 2 hours when I was planning to stay about half an hour. Well at least people turned up, I thought I was going to be one of 10 people at a party that was apparently for 100). On the happy side, I met some cool people at said hostage situation and got inducted into a secret society for poetry and baking, for which I had to write a super creepy ode to the dorm warden person (we call them RAs – resident assisstants or something) that I’ll post later. On the unhappy side, I never got the cake because I couldn’t wait that long. I was supposed to be watching a movie with Dan (boyfriend) and Laura (cool friend) but we ended up getting trashed, eating weed brownies and watching The O.C.

Last night was Halloween, accompanied by an unusual amount of festivity since we don’t really celebrate it in England. I was dressed as a devil, my friend Kate was an angel so we could be a conscience and randomly started whispering to people caught in between us. Apparently it was so annoying we could quite easily have got people to kill themselves if we kept it up for more than 5 minutes. My costume looked pretty damn good. But more about Halloween later, this post is getting cluttered.

In a second referendum vote, Ireland has voted in favor of the Lisbon Treaty, which aims to reform the workings of the European Union. A first referendum was held in June 2008 and only 10 out of 43 parliamentary constituencies were in favor of the treaty. In contrast, this time 41 constituencies voted in favor. Ireland was the only EU nation to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, Guardian UK. The Telegraph has posted a Q&A of the treaty here.

A Hamas official is denying reports that the Palestine National Authority will control the Gaza Strip after an agreement between Hamas and Fatah. A reconciliation deal is expected to be signed later this month in Cairo and some reports say Palestine will hold official elections next year, Xinhau.

Three foreign aid workers held hostage for three months have been released in Somalia. The workers, who work for Action Against Hunger, were kidnapped in Kenya by about 10 Somali gunmen. It is not known if a ransom was paid for their release, but they are all reported to be in good health and safe, BBC News.

Some parts of the U.S. will begin to receive H1N1 vaccines early next week. 600,000 doses of the nasal spray FluMist will be spread across 21 states and more will be sent out later in the week, USA Today.

Hot Topic: From Inside Military, Strong Rebuke Of Ban On Gays.

About a week ago, I gave you, Dear Reader, an epic retelling of my nearest-to-death experience to date. You may remember visions of a meth-fueled rat-man and a high-speed car chase through my peaceful wooded neighborhood. I told this story as a cautionary tale of sorts, a reminder of the fragility of mortality and sanity and other interrelated shit. Today’s story runs in the same bloody vein as the last tale, a grim reminder of the closeness of death in everyday life. And shit.

It is a day. I’ve traveled to my friend Seth’s house for some Guitar Hero and such. Seth lives in what some may call the “middle of shit-nowhere,” surrounded by trees and gravel roads. While most of Seth’s neighbors are benevolent enough, the neighbors directly to his left aren’t so scrupulous. In fact, they are hardcore drug dealers, relocated from the Bronx. These unfriendly neighbors hold a compulsion directly related to the firing of automatic weapons in their backyard. They have repeatedly attempted to sell Seth’s brother meth {meta-note: why do my stories always involve meth?}, among other chemically active things. All in all, these neighbors do an excellent job of crippling any surrounding property value or sense of comfort, and are irredeemable dickheads.

Turns out that the day I decided to go to Seth’s house, one of these neighbors simultaneously decided to rob a suburban house, threaten the occupying family at gunpoint, and steal their car. The perpetrator, already on the lam from the law, ditches the car in the gully across the street from Seth’s house and takes refuge in the neighboring drug house/trailer. Someone calls the police, eager to expel these unsavory residents. A few minutes later, fifteen cop cars– local and state troopers– arrive at the scene, armed with megaphones and the long dick of the law. A few cops stage a raid on the house and remove three or four residents. One of the detained, a twenty-something woman, shrieks various obscenities, along with “my kid is still in there! aaaaagh [unintelligible] aaaaagh!”

Seth and I, previously camping out in his room and investigating out of the window, venture to the porch to watch the happenings. We get word that the car robber and a small child are still in the house– and the man is still armed. The police assume a hostage situation, surround the building, and wait for SWAT to show up. A police helicopter arrives overhead. An hour or two passes without movement. Seth’s neighbors come out in force and stand on the deck with us, eager to see what was about to go down. Someone (me or Seth) makes popcorn.

Suddenly, the smack of a shotgun firing followed by another. No one has any clue what has happened.

Soon two SWAT vans arrive. It takes another hour or two for the SWAT team to gear up and surround the building. I see some sort of robotic contraption emerge from one of the vans. It has a camera. And a shotgun. A shotgun. Robots with shotguns.

The whole ordeal drags on for the entire afternoon and starts to come off as anticlimactic. Finally, around seven PM, SWAT moves in: an officer throws a flash-bang grenade, half of the team runs into the house, and someone runs out of the house with the child, who is completely unharmed.

Relief all around. One of the SWAT men yells “Good job, people!” This statement bothers me. If the whole operation is finished, what is the ultimate fate of the shotgun-wielding robber? Turns out that there was no hostage situation at all– the kid was happily watching TV while the robber, cornered, blew his own brains out.

I’ll skip the sad thoughts that flowed through my head at that moment. After we talked to the police, Seth and I got in the car, drove away, and got pizza.

The end.

Holy god it’s getting harder to write in this blog when you know that there’s a thousand other more meaningful things you could be doing with your time

Famed broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite has died at the age of 92. Cronkite, named “the most trusted man in America,” was the anchor of the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. He broadcasted such events as the Apollo 11 launch, the Vietnam War, and Nixon’s impeachment, New York Times.

A second French hostage has been handed over to al-Shabab, a Muslim terrorist group in Somalia. Another man was taken by the group on Thursday and the Somali government says the group is known for their public executions. The two hostages were part of a team training government troops in Mogadishu, BBC News.

The space shuttle Endeavour has linked up with the international space shuttle for a 16-day mission. The number of crew members on board is now at 13, from six. NASA says they are tracking a piece of “space junk” that may force the station to change its position, CNN.

Iran is still in turmoil, more than a month after the controversial presidential elections declared incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner. Today, large groups protested, even amid reports of detained protesters being tortured by police over the last month, AP.

59 civilians were killed in Iraq this week. A U.S. soldier shot and killed a civilian driver yesterday after the driver did not stop when he was signaled to. In a separate incident, a driver was killed in a head-on collision with an U.S. Army Stryker vehicle, CNN.

An Italian Red Cross worker that was held hostage for six months in the Philippines has been released. Eugenio Vagni, 62, was being held by Muslim rebels who called for an end of military operations in the area and a withdrawal of troops. A ransom was requested in exchange for Vagni, but officials say no ransom was paid, BBC News.

Gunmen have killed five federal agents and two soldiers in Mexico in retribution for the arrest of a prominent member of the La Familia drug cartel. The gunmen threw grenades and shot at police stations in the town of Morelia and in five other cities, New York Times.

Thousands of Bosnia Muslims remembered today the events the took place in Srebrenica in 1995, when what is believed to be 8,000 men and boys were killed by Serb forces. The killings were “Europe’s worst massacre since World War II,” Sky News.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will back a two-state solution for Palestine, but only if Palestine is completely disarmed. Under his conditions, Palestine would not be allowed an army, would have no way of smuggling weapons, and would have no control over its own air space. The Prime Minister also said he was open to immediately having peace discussions with Palestine, BBC News.

Nine foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen by Shia rebels. The group is comprised of mostly women and children, with seven Germans, a Briton and a Korean. Two of those kidnapped had been working in the country as nurses, BBC News.

We’ve been extensively covering the Iranian election chaos the past few days, and while we can’t give out much more confirmed information (foreign journalists are being expelled, power is down, and the only info is coming from Twitter), we can give you a brief rundown of the situation as it stands now.

We hear that students at a university in Tehran have sparred with police and eyewitness reports say 15 are severely injured and over 100 students have been arrested. A video was posted on Youtube earlier of what appeared to be a protester beaten to death by police, but it has since been taken down. Those who are supporting the Mousavi supporters are urged to wear green tomorrow, no matter where in the world you are. Here’s a great New York Times article with info on the unrest in Iran.

You will believe a man can fly.

Authors: Greg Rucka & James Robinson
Artist: Pete Woods
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Steve Wands
Cover Artist: Gary Frank
Variant Cover Artists: Howard Chaytkin with Edgar Delgado
Assistant Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson

New Krypton is an interesting little ‘what if?’ scenario for Superman.  What if Superman lived in a world where everyone had the same powers he has?  What if he wasn’t special at all?  What if he was just Clark Kent?  Would he still make a difference?  Except he’s not Clark Kent, the human reporter – he’s Commander Kal-El of the Kryptonian Military Guild.  And yet, this series has done more to highlight Superman’s very human upbringing than any other.  Superman is special, and what’s special about him is his humanity.

This all sounds very poignant for what is essentially a story about a hostage situation.  That we get to see Superman negotiate a hostage situation at all just goes to show how interesting New Krypton’s basic premise is.  While some readers are waiting for ’something’ to happen, I’m enjoying all the very ‘normal’ situations Superman finds himself in, and how his intrinsic responses differ from that of his Kryptonian colleagues, particularly Zod.  Now, I expect that ’something’ readers and critics are impatiently waiting for is something along the lines of ‘Zod’s up to something, and it ain’t good’, and this story certainly alludes to that in some small measure, but I want to see this ‘what if?’ scenario explored first and played out to the full.

It’s true, General Zod does risk losing the menacing heights he achieved during Geoff John’s and Richard Donner’s “Last Son” story arc, if he doesn’t do something villainous soon.  It seems that Superman and Supergirl aren’t the only ones who view New Krypton as a new beginning.  Zod, too, has turned over a new leaf, it seems.

(For those not in the know, New Krypton consists solely of the citizens of Kandor, a city which was shrunk and trapped in a bottle by Brainiac long ago.  As a result, the people of New Krypton are still adjusting to their newfound freedom, and are completely unaware of the nature of General Zod’s military coup back on Krypton proper.  They were also completely unaware of Jor-El’s peaceful attempts to warn the Council of Krypton’s impending doom.  Years later, Zod and company are the only survivors of Krypton’s destruction, and the only surviving Kryptonians who were ‘right’ about the whole thing.  His attempt to forcefully ’save’ Krypton from the Council’s ignorance is thus considered an act of heroism in retrospect.)

Superman and Zod’s new relationship is understandably awkward considering their embattled past, and while this is intended and entertaining, it’s also a little implausible.  Zod seems far too reasonable for a man who was an egomaniacal madman not so long ago.  And Superman seems far too composed for a man who – being the only one who knows the truth about Zod – is required to serve under his command!  Zod appears to admire Superman’s non-lethal solutions to societal problems, and Superman appears to regard Zod as someone other than an egotistical madman.  If they get much more familiar, it’s going to be very difficult for these two to lock fists to faces in the inevitable future.  I suppose I’m just concerned that Rucka and Robinson have written themselves into a corner they can’t get out of (though I feel the same way about the whole New Krypton scenario altogether).

World of New Krypton explores another side of Superman that we’ve perhaps not seen before: Superman the Revolutionary.  New Krypton still operates under a guild system as established on Old Krypton, but the Labor Guild (sound familiar?) is the only without political representation.  Superman, the red-blooded American he is, sees this as fundamentally wrong and undemocratic, and in many ways planted the dissenting seeds that led to this situation.  Members of the Labor Guild take Alura (Superman’s biological aunt and Supergirl’s mother) hostage, demanding reasonable working conditions and political representation.  Before Zod orders their outright execution, Kal-El asks for 30 minutes to find a non-violent solution.  Now this is what makes Superman, Superman!

Rucka and Robinson remind us again what makes Superman so important in the superhero landscape.  There are some forces too good to be polluted by the evils of this world, and one such force is Superman.  Even in a world full of superpowered beings, Superman sets himself apart with purity and ingenuity.  You can have your post-80s grit, but I prefer my Superman squeaky-clean, thank you very much.

Nine policeman in Peru have been killed by Amazonian indigenous protesters during a rescue operation at a petroleum facility. Protesters had kidnapped 38 officers, of which 22 were rescued and seven others are still missing. The protesters were angry with the government for drilling for oil and gas on ancestral land. Fighting in Bagua, Peru began Friday, killing 22 tribesman and 11 officers. 5 civilians were also killed. The violence was the worst in the country since the 1990s, BBC News.

Juarez, Mexico seemed to be recovering from their deadly drug wars, but violence is spiking again. Officials say the amount of executions performed in broad daylight is much higher than at this time last year. Two drugs cartels in the city are fighting for control of the drug trafficking routes that enter the U.S. Juarez is just across the border from El Paso, Texas, NPR.

Longshot Summer Bird won today’s Belmont Stakes race, denying jockey Calvin Borel the chance to be the only jockey in history to win all three Triple Crown races on different horses. Borel rode Mine That Bird, the horse he rode in his Kentucky Derby win, and placed third, SI.

Svetlana Kuznetsova easily defeated #1 ranked Dinara Safina in the women’s finals of the French Open. Kuznetsova won in only 74 minutes, winning the frist two sets 6-4 and 6-2. Tomorrow, Roger Federer will play Robin Soderling in an attempt to win the only Grand Slam title that has alluded him in his career, ESPN.

U.S. President Obama spoke at Omaha Beach in France today to commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Read a summary and quotes from his speech here.

Around 10:20 local time in Jamaica, an airplane was taken hostage by a man who sneaked onto the plane. There have been conflicting reports that one person has been killed. The CanJet plane, which was headed to Halifax, Canada, is still at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

Update: 167 passengers have been released, 7 people are still on the plane. No one has been shot, although a shot was fired. The 7 people include the pilot, 4 flight attendants, and 2 passengers.

Jamaica Radio is reporting the man’s intention was to rob the passengers aboard the plane.

2nd Update: The two passengers on board a hijacked plane in Jamaica have been released, 5 crew still on board. The airport is on lockdown.

3rd Update: The man holding five crew members hostage has demanded passage to Cuba, according to CNN.

4th Update: Jamaican Information Minister on CNN says hijacker is a mentally challenged young man in his early 20s. His father is on the scene to help authorities.

CNN IBN report. | Video of CNN report. | Official CanJet statement.

5th Update: Jamaican government officials say the hijacker has surrendered. No crew or passengers were hurt during the eight hour stand off. News reports say the hijacker had demanded to be flown to Cuba, but a CTV interview with a passenger who was released from the plane says that the hijacker asked to be taken to the United States. The woman said that the passengers gave the gunman money in exchange for their release. We’ll have more information as it becomes available.

Final Update: The hijacker has surrendered, all are reportedly safe.

A British man who was taken hostage by Nigerian militants seven months ago has finally been freed. Robin Hughes, an oil worker, was captured by The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) along with 26 other workers. All the other hostages were released months ago, except for Matthew Maguire who is still being held captive. Hughes appeared to be uninjured, Sky News.

The public is now working on helping free American journalist Roxana Saberi, the woman being detained in Iran for “spying.” President Obama commented earlier this week, saying he was deeply disappointed in the situation, but as America has no diplomats in Tehran, they can do little to help. The website Free Roxana is updating the situation frequently and we recommend you follow Free Roxana on Twitter.

Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and a handful of other nations have all joined the U.S. in boycotting the U.N.’s upcoming race summit. The U.S. announced earlier that they would not attend because they fear it will become an anti-Semitic and anti-Israel forum, BBC News.

Read our earlier update of the man charged with the deaths of 5 young children in Texas.

With pirates being in the news so much lately, they are clearly a problem that the world is facing.  Do you think there is anyway to prevent these attacks from occuring?  Once you vote, please leave the reason for your vote in the comment section.

Thanks for voting!

Rick

As I said in a post earlier, I think Barack got the job done appropriately and quickly.  I even went so far as to give him the prestigious “Conservative Journal Seal of Approval” honor!  Big deal, I know.  But what do you think?  Vote in today’s poll to see where you stand in comparison to the rest of Conservative Journal readers.

Thanks for participating!

Rick

That’s right readers, Barack Obama receives The Conservative Journals very first “Seal of Approval” distinction.  Isn’t it ironic that some one who I very rarely have anything at all positive to say about wins the first of these coveted awards?

Anyway, Barack acheived this great honor with his surprisingly quick action regarding the Somali pirates taking Captain Richard Phillips hostage.  Though Barack was not the one that actually gunned down the scallywags, he did OKAY the sniper’s “extermination” of the motley crew.  The shoot out resulted in the death of 3 of the 4 pirates, while the lone survivor suffered serious injuries and is now in custody.  It’s truly a miracle that everyone on the hijacked ship made it alive.  That should teach those swashbucklers to live us alone!

Good job Barack!  Hopefully you can do more things worthy of this honorary distinction.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Also, at the start of this hostage situation, many of us had our doubts on what action our dear Prez would take.  Though I am pleased he got the job done quickly, a cartoon was e-mailed to me during the days of speculation, and I think it’s too clever to not post it.  This is from Dennis “Bones” Evers:

Thankfully, this wasn't the case during the weekend's events.

If you have any cartoons you have made, or some you think are great, please send them in!  I will be sure to post everything that I receive, as long as it’s appropriate.  Of course, I have a very broad sense of what’s appropriate, so it’s probably fine.

Thanks for reading!

Rick

Thailand remains in turmoil after protests all week. Today the government has declared a state of emergency and local news sources are reporting that tanks are patrolling Bangkok. Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is stoking the unrest and asking dissenters to revolt against the government, which they claim was not democratically elected since the current government ousted Thaksin in 2006 during a coup. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has refused to step down, Sky News.

The Sri Lankan government has declared a temporary ceasefire with the Tamil Tigers and will not launch any military offensives on them until the truce is over. The battles between the two have put Sri Lanka in the middle of a civil war with tens of thousands of civilians trapped in the fighting. The truce is meant to allow civilians time to leave the area, BBC News.

Conservationists have found a new species of orangutan in a remote part of Indonesia. The team estimates there are 1,000 to 2,000 of the animal in the area, which would give a big boost to the endangered species. Before the discovery, scientists said there were only between 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left on Earth, Associated Press.

BREAKING: The American ship capatain who had been held hostage by Somali pirates has been freed. Three of the four pirates holding Captain Phillips have been killed and the fourth is in custody, BNO.

By:MiddleEastNews

By Calvin Palmer

FBI hostage negotiators are today attempting to secure the release of the American ship captain held by Somali pirates.

Capt Richard Phillips was taken hostage yesterday after pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama and the crew then regained control of the ship.

The pirates fled in a lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama and took Phillips with them.

Kevin Speers, a spokesman for Maersk, said the pirates have made no demands yet to the company. He said the safe return of the captain was paramount.

Speers said the lifeboat containing Phillips and the pirates is out of fuel.

“The boat is dead in the water,” he said. “It’s floating near the Alabama. It’s my understanding that it’s floating freely.”

The guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge arrived on the scene before dawn and is monitoring the situation, along with a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko described the bureau’s hostage rescue team as “fully engaged” with the military in working out ways to retrieve the ship’s captain and secure the Maersk Alabama and its 20-member U.S. crew.

One senior Pentagon official described the incident now as “somewhat of a standoff”.

The family of Phillips was at his Vermont farmhouse, anxiously watching news reports and taking telephone calls from the State Department.

“We are on pins and needles,” said Gina Coggio, 29, half sister of Phillips’ wife, Andrea. “I know the crew has been in touch with their family members, and we’re hoping we’ll hear from Richard soon.”

Phillips surrendered himself to the pirates to secure the safety of the crew, Coggio said.

“What I understand is that he offered himself as the hostage,” she said. “That is what he would do. It’s just who he is and his response as a captain.”

Coggio said she believed negotiations were under way but did not specify with whom.

With one warship nearby and more on the way, piracy expert Roger Middleton from London-based think tank Chatham House said the pirates were facing difficult choices.

“The pirates are in a very, very tight corner,” Middleton said. “They’ve got only one guy, they’ve got nowhere to hide him, they’ve got no way to defend themselves effectively against the military and they are hundreds of miles from Somalia.”

The Maersk Alabama was en route to neighboring Kenya, loaded with relief aid, when she was attacked about 380 miles east of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. It was the sixth vessel seized in a week.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

A U.S. boat captain is being held hostage by Somali pirates in the waters off the coast of Africa. The pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama, an American ship, over 12 hours ago. There were early reports that the Americans on board had taken back the ship, but the pirates still have the boat’s captain hostage in a separate lifeboat. A U.S. warship has reached the scene and many more are expected to follow. To date, no hostages have been harmed by Somali pirates and all previous ransoms have been paid, CNN. For more information, look at the ICC Commercial Crime Service’s site, which includes a live piracy map, ICC-CSS.

The death toll from Italy’s earthquake early Monday morning has risen to 272. There was some good news for workers relentlessly digging through the rubble – a woman was found alive today after surviving for 2 days in the wreckage, NPR.

The U.S., Russia, Great Britain, China, France, and Germany have agreed to invite Iran for a talk about their nuclear program. The six countries are hoping to find a diplomatic solution to the growing problem of Iran’s nuclear program, which Iran claims is being developed for “civilian purposes.” The inclusion of the U.S. in the talks signals a new approach from the country, as opposed to Bush’s response in the past, BBC News.

Motive still unknown
Gunman Kills at Least 12, Himself at Upstate New York Immigrant Center
At least 12 people, gunman dead in Binghamton, New York
Binghamton Rampage Leaves 13 Dead, Shooter’s Sister Stunned
Obama calls shooting act of ’senseless violence’

A tense hostage situation underway in Binghampton NY (just above NYC).  Over 40 people are under seige and as many 13 already feared dead.  SEE FULL STORY HERE