Sana'a, Yemen - A senior Yemeni local official began on Sunday a new round of negotiations with kidnappers of a Dutch couple after mediation led by tribal leaders foundered, a municipal official said.

"A new round of talks is under way after negotiations between tribal chieftains and the abductors broke down yesterday," said Jamil Shuraih, the secretary-general of the Bani-Dhabian district where the Dutch hostages are being held.

Berlin - A German-flagged cargo ship, described in one news report as a container vessel, has apparently been hijacked by pirates near the Somali coast, two German government ministries in Berlin said Sunday.

The Spiegel Online website in Germany quoted Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, as saying it was a 20,000-gross-ton vessel. He did not give its name, but said it had a crew of 24.

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Berlin  - A freighter, described in one news report as a German-owned container vessel, has been hijacked by pirates off the Somali coast, the German Defence Ministry in Berlin said Sunday.

A ministry spokesman did not specify the ship's origin, the time it was captured, or who had attacked it.

The Spiegel Online website in Germany quoted Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, as saying it was a 20,000-gross-ton vessel. He did not give its name, but said it had a crew of 24.

New Delhi  - At least 14 people including two women were killed after drinking illegally brewed poisonous alcohol in India's north-eastern state of Assam, a news report said Sunday.

The deaths occurred in the Saboti area in the Lakhimpur district, some 400 kilometres east of state capital Guwahati, Saturday night, the PTI news agency reported quoting official sources.

Thirteen villagers who were seriously ill after consuming the alcohol were admitted to different state-run hospitals in the area. Doctors said the death toll could rise.

Islamabad  - Pakistan's top Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud Saturday claimed responsibility for the shootings at an US immigration services centre in New York state that killed 13 people.

"I accept the responsibility. They were my men," Mehsud told reporters in Peshawar on phone from some undisclosed location.

A lone gunman took more than 40 immigrants hostage Friday when they were taking a citizenship class at the American Civic Association building in Binghamton, located around 225 kilometres north-west of New York city.