Pirates seize two ships off Yemen

Two vessels have been seized by suspected Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen, adding to the dozens of ships hijacked in the area this year.

An Indonesian tugboat contracted to French oil company Total was seized, a Total spokesman said.

It was heading from Yemen to Malaysia when it was attacked.

A Turkish cargo ship, MV Bosphorus Prodigy, owned by Isko Marine Company, was also captured, a US Fifth Fleet spokesman said.

Merchant vessels have been among targets for Somali pirates

The container ship is 330ft (100m) long and carries the flag of Antigua-Barbuda.

The tugboat had mainly Indonesian crew, the Total spokesman said.

The latest seizures came as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime called for more policing of the seas off Somalia, and for arrested pirates to tried in the country that the arresting officers come from.

The executive director of the office, Antonio Maria Costa, said: "Pirates cannot be keelhauled or forced to walk the plank, nor should they be dumped off the Somali coast.

"They need to be brought to justice."

Explosives found in Paris store

Five sticks of explosives have been found and made safe in a top Paris department store, French police say.

The Printemps Haussmann store was evacuated and cordoned off, and police directed traffic away from the area.

French news agency AFP received a letter signed by a group calling itself the Afghan Revolutionary Front, warning of "several bombs" placed in the store.

President Nicolas Sarkozy urged caution in reacting to the incident. There was no detonator linked to the explosives.

"All we can do is to be prudent and moderate," Mr Sarkozy said at a news conference in the European Parliament.

"My belief has not changed since 2002 that vigilance in the face of terrorism is the only possible line to take."

The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says the incident is a scary warning to the French people and a reminder that they are not immune to the scourge of terrorism, despite there being no significant attack on French soil for more than 10 years.

Unknown group

Officials said the explosives, planted in washrooms on several floors, were first located by sniffer dogs.

They consisted of old sticks of dynamite held together with a piece of cord, according to an officials quoted by news agency AFP.

"Based on what we know, it was not a device that was set to explode. We are going to carry out an investigation to find the perpetrators," AFP quoted Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie as saying at the scene.

The store, on the city's central Boulevard Haussmann, was evacuated as the area was busy with shoppers ahead of Christmas.

One shopper told AFP the evacuation was calm and orderly.

The Afghan Revolutionary Front is a previously unknown group.

"If you do not send someone to intervene before Wednesday December 17, they will explode," said its letter, which was taken by police investigating the explosives.

"Send the message to your president that he must withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009 or else we will take action in your capitalist department stores and this time, without warning."

France has about 2,600 troops serving with Nato in Afghanistan, after reinforcements were sent earlier this year.

In a video broadcast last November, a Taleban military leader, Faruq Akhun Zadeh, warned that "our reaction will be heard in Paris" if the troops were not withdrawn.

Greek protesters seize TV studio

Protesters in Greece have interrupted a TV news bulletin to call for the continuation of mass protests over the recent killing of a teenager by police.

Ten youths briefly seized a state NET TV studio, holding banners saying "Stop watching, get out onto the streets".

Protesters interrupted footage of a speech of Mr Karamanlis

Separately, youths attacked the riot police headquarters in the capital, Athens, damaging several vehicles.

Some 70 people have been injured during riots across Greece sparked by the shooting of the teenager on 6 December.

It is estimated that 400 people have been detained during the protests.

Youths also clashed with police in the northern city of Thessaloniki

The policeman accused of shooting Alexandros Grigoropoulos, aged 15, has been charged with murder.

The shooting has also generated widespread anti-government sentiment, with many protesters voicing their anger over the government's economic policies.

Conservative Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has rejected calls to step down.

He says the country needs a "steady hand" to deal with the economic downturn, "not scenarios about elections and successions".