Ankara - Turkish diplomats have undertaken initiatives to free two Turkish sailors who have been taken hostage by pirates just off the Nigerian coast, Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday.

The captain and second engineer of the Marshall Islands-flagged ship Aleyna Mercan were taken hostage after the ship was attacked by pirates of the Nigerian port of Onne on April 20, the Anadolu news agency reported. The two men were later taken off the ship.

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Ankara - Ten people, including four military officers were taken into custody Wednesday after investigators found a buried cache of weapons thought to be connected to a plot to overthrow Turkey's moderate Islamist government, Turkish media reported.

Grenades, anti-tank rockets, hand guns and ammunition were amongst the armaments found during the search in a forested area of Poyrazkoy, NTV said. No official statement had been released as of Wednesday evening.

London, Apr. 22: A former Royal cop has claimed that police officers stationed at Buckingham Palace spent their night shifts running gambling syndicates, selling hard-core pornography and posed for pictures on the Queen’s throne.

A jury has heard the extraordinary account of how Royal protection officers slept off hangovers in private palace rooms, smuggled “uninvited and unvetted” guests into Royal garden parties and allowed business associates to park their cars at Buckingham Palace.

Mirpur Khas (Pakistan), Apr. 22: A case has been registered against an 80-year-old Pakistani man for allegedly kidnapping, forcibly marrying and keeping a 12-year-old girl in illegal confinement for a year.

Addressing a press conference, Shabana’s father Sabir Shaikh said that he, along with his family, had gone to the house of his brother Abdullah Shaikh in Karachi last year.

The apprehended accused, Rasool, and his brother Abdul Malik who are also his relatives kidnapped his daughter, he added.

Melbourne, Apr 22: At a court hearing in Australia it was revealed that five Thai women, who were imported for the sex industry, were told that they had to service up to 750 clients before they could earn their own money.

Four men, Kam Tin Ho, Ho Kam Ho, Chee Fui Hoo and Slamet Edy Rahardjo, believed to be involved in the racket, are now facing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court.