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Well, I do actually also have a question for you english speakers (go to the bottom).
Prison break repeat shocks Greece
The helicopter used in the 2006 escape (file pic)
Vassilis Paleokostas appears to have a fondness for helicopter travel
Two of Greece's most wanted men have staged a daring helicopter escape from Athens' highest-security prison - for the second time in three years.
Serial armed robber and kidnapper Vassilis Paleokostas and his Albanian sidekick Alket Rizai were days away from trial for their 2006 escape.
They fled Korydallos prison after a helicopter landed on the jail's roof and threw them a rope ladder.
The aircraft was reportedly later found abandoned by a main highway.
The road leads towards Greece's central mountain range, an area where Paleokostas, 42, was able to hide with impunity during previous years, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant, in Athens.
Our correspondent says the breakout is a damning indictment of Greece's prison system.
Shots fired
Sunday's escape happened at around 1530 local time (1330 GMT), the Associated Press reports, adding that guards opened fire on the fleeing fugitives but were unable to stop them.
"The helicopter was then found in the northern Athens suburb of Kapandriti but there was no trace of the fugitives," an unnamed police official told Reuters news agency.
Three years ago both men managed to escape when a hijacked helicopter landed in Korydallos' central yard at exercise time.
On that occasion, the guards failed to react, because they thought it was a visit by prison inspectors.
Paleokostas was previously in prison for a string of crimes including the kidnapping of an industrialist called George Mylonas, released after paying a substantial ransom.
After the previous escape he was recaptured in August 2008.
The architect of that escape, Paleokostas' brother Nikos, has since been captured and jailed, and is now likely to face increased security
Pirates seize vessel off Somalia
Royal Navy lookout escorting food ship off Somalia, 2009
The EU force's main aim is to deter pirate attacks on shipping
Pirates in the Gulf of Aden have seized a Greek-owned cargo ship.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, on board a UK warship 100km (60 miles) away, said the captain of the MV Saldanha radioed that pirates had boarded his ship.
The Saldanha is now heading to Somalia under pirate command after the UK navy's HMS Northumberland judged it was beyond its remit to pursue the ship.
The warship is part of an EU task force patrolling the waters off the unstable Horn of Africa to deter pirate attacks.
But when the captain of the Saldanha made contact with HMS Northumberland, he told the ship that pirates had warned the British warship to stay away.
Trying to retake captured ships is not what the EU's anti-piracy task force does, our correspondent reports from on board the UK vessel.
After sending a helicopter up to take a closer look, the frustrated commander of HMS Northumberland had to accept there was nothing more his men could do.
Rising tide
The MV Saldanha was reportedly sailing under a Maltese flag when it was hijacked.
The Greek merchant marine ministry confirmed the Saldanha was seized, adding that the ship was manned by a 22-strong crew, Reuters news agency reported.
The ministry said the ship was loaded with coal and was heading to Slovenia, Reuters said.
Pirates from Somalia target merchant ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden, which connects Europe and Asia.
Greek ships have found themselves in the pirates' sights before, with a ship carrying salt to Kenya seized off Somali waters in September 2008.
The MV Genius and all of its 19 crew were released in November.
The International Maritime Bureau has issued a warning to shipping recently, saying that the risk from piracy off the coast of Somalia was rising again, after the number of pirate seizures dropped off at the end of last year.
The bureau's reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur says six ships were attacked last week, but all managed to escape.
The bureau blamed the heightened risk on more favourable weather and the temptation for pirates to target more ships for ransom, after recently releasing a number of hijacked vessels.
And the question : wtf does " judged it was beyond its remit to pursue " mean ? I think that I know what remit means (dictionary.com agrees), but are there a hidden meaning of this expression ?
Prison break repeat shocks Greece
The helicopter used in the 2006 escape (file pic)
Vassilis Paleokostas appears to have a fondness for helicopter travel
Two of Greece's most wanted men have staged a daring helicopter escape from Athens' highest-security prison - for the second time in three years.
Serial armed robber and kidnapper Vassilis Paleokostas and his Albanian sidekick Alket Rizai were days away from trial for their 2006 escape.
They fled Korydallos prison after a helicopter landed on the jail's roof and threw them a rope ladder.
The aircraft was reportedly later found abandoned by a main highway.
The road leads towards Greece's central mountain range, an area where Paleokostas, 42, was able to hide with impunity during previous years, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant, in Athens.
Our correspondent says the breakout is a damning indictment of Greece's prison system.
Shots fired
Sunday's escape happened at around 1530 local time (1330 GMT), the Associated Press reports, adding that guards opened fire on the fleeing fugitives but were unable to stop them.
"The helicopter was then found in the northern Athens suburb of Kapandriti but there was no trace of the fugitives," an unnamed police official told Reuters news agency.
Three years ago both men managed to escape when a hijacked helicopter landed in Korydallos' central yard at exercise time.
On that occasion, the guards failed to react, because they thought it was a visit by prison inspectors.
Paleokostas was previously in prison for a string of crimes including the kidnapping of an industrialist called George Mylonas, released after paying a substantial ransom.
After the previous escape he was recaptured in August 2008.
The architect of that escape, Paleokostas' brother Nikos, has since been captured and jailed, and is now likely to face increased security
Pirates seize vessel off Somalia
Royal Navy lookout escorting food ship off Somalia, 2009
The EU force's main aim is to deter pirate attacks on shipping
Pirates in the Gulf of Aden have seized a Greek-owned cargo ship.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, on board a UK warship 100km (60 miles) away, said the captain of the MV Saldanha radioed that pirates had boarded his ship.
The Saldanha is now heading to Somalia under pirate command after the UK navy's HMS Northumberland judged it was beyond its remit to pursue the ship.
The warship is part of an EU task force patrolling the waters off the unstable Horn of Africa to deter pirate attacks.
But when the captain of the Saldanha made contact with HMS Northumberland, he told the ship that pirates had warned the British warship to stay away.
Trying to retake captured ships is not what the EU's anti-piracy task force does, our correspondent reports from on board the UK vessel.
After sending a helicopter up to take a closer look, the frustrated commander of HMS Northumberland had to accept there was nothing more his men could do.
Rising tide
The MV Saldanha was reportedly sailing under a Maltese flag when it was hijacked.
The Greek merchant marine ministry confirmed the Saldanha was seized, adding that the ship was manned by a 22-strong crew, Reuters news agency reported.
The ministry said the ship was loaded with coal and was heading to Slovenia, Reuters said.
Pirates from Somalia target merchant ships sailing through the busy Gulf of Aden, which connects Europe and Asia.
Greek ships have found themselves in the pirates' sights before, with a ship carrying salt to Kenya seized off Somali waters in September 2008.
The MV Genius and all of its 19 crew were released in November.
The International Maritime Bureau has issued a warning to shipping recently, saying that the risk from piracy off the coast of Somalia was rising again, after the number of pirate seizures dropped off at the end of last year.
The bureau's reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur says six ships were attacked last week, but all managed to escape.
The bureau blamed the heightened risk on more favourable weather and the temptation for pirates to target more ships for ransom, after recently releasing a number of hijacked vessels.
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