Captured sailors were late entry for regatta

Crew of seized yacht were on their way to Dubai after making a late decision to enter the annual coastal race to Oman

Largest spam gang fined $15m by US court

Brothers based in New Zealand ran worldwide junk mail network that sold fake penis enhancement and weight-loss pills

Mum locked in wardrobe for seven hours by toddler

Karen Kilgour spent the day trapped inside a tiny bedroom cupboard after her 14-month-old son Harry shut the door on her

Australia raises rates for third month in a row

The Reserve Bank of Australia raises interest rates to 3.75 per cent in a move to keep inflation under control

Sanctions urged over nuclear expansion

Iran faced mounting threats over its plans to expand massively its uranium enrichment programme in defiance of the West

‘Nations will vanish'

Rise in sea levels of 1.4m would result in loss of entire nations and displacement of up to ten per cent of the world's population

Five British sailors seized as Iran raises stakes

Fresh diplomatic row as a yacht is stopped after 'inadvertently' straying into Iran while sailing from Bahrain to Dubai

Obama sends Marines into the Taleban heartland

President’s top military commanders ordered to begin moves that will see 30,000 more US troops deployed

Piracy is costing shipowners millions in insurance

The cost of insuring container ships to travel through high-risk routes has risen fivefold in the past year

£6bn Aids project 'not reaching most in need'

International Development Committee says that sex workers and drug-users are not benefiting from healthcare strategy

Demjanjuk painted as ‘victim’ on first day of trial

The alleged death camp guard's defence said that he was a victim of the Nazis who simply did what he had to to survive

Inside the EU’s anti-piracy bunker

From a basement in Northwood, Middlesex, a joint task force is tackling pirates in the world’s most dangerous waters

Low risk unless exposure was very high

If inhaled or swallowed Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, could present a radiation hazard to the Indian workers

UN chief in Afghanistan ready to stand down

Kai Eide, who has been accused of failing to counter electoral fraud, does not to want to stay in his post much longer

Carbon 'must be sucked from the atmosphere'

Drastic cuts in emissions may not be sufficient to avoid the worst of global warming, says IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri

Special forces provide unique abilities

The SAS have already crippled car bomb networks, killed or captured hundreds of key targets and rescued several hostages

How a pardon can destroy presidential hopes

Michael Dukakis's 1988 presidential campaign was doomed when a prisoner on the release programme he supported raped a woman

The poor island nations need help quickly

The Alliance of Small Islands needs protection urgently if they are not to start sinking due to climate change

Police 'killer' was freed by presidential hopeful

Maurice Clemmons, still at large, would be in jail had Mike Huckabee not pardoned him in 2000 when he was Arkansas governor