Kiev  - Relatives of a mostly-Ukrainian crew held hostage aboard a ship off the Somali coast are preparing to pay a ransom demanded by pirates, a crew spokeswoman told the Ukrainian Fakty newspaper

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 21 : Armed pirates in speedboats have hijacked an Indian dhow with 13 crew members off the northern coast of Somalia, a maritime official has said.

The cargo-laden vessel was en route to Somalia when it was seized over the weekend, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

London, Oct 21 : Iranian security forces have arrested two pigeons for apparently spying near its Natanz nuclear facility.

According to the Etemad Melli newspaper, one of the pigeons captured near rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province had metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it.

It is believed that the bird might have been communicating what it had seen with the equipment it was carrying.

Washington, Oct 21 : Laser hair removal therapy can be effective only when used separately than when used as a combination treatment, according to a new study.

During the past decade, laser hair removal has become a popular and accepted method used to reduce the growth of unwanted hair that have profound psychological effects and also appear to be safer.

The research team led by Dr Seyyed Masoud Davoudi, of the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, analysed the results of the participants who underwent treatment at a private laser skin centre and received a total of four treatment sessions at eight-week intervals.

Mumbai, Oct 21 : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has been sent to judicial custody till November 4 by a suburban magistrate’s court in Bandra.

He was produced before the judge after being arrested by Mumbai Police from Ratnagiri earlier on Tuesday. He will stay in Kalyan jail.

The Police also imposed a two-month gag order on Raj thus preventing him from addressing public rallies and talking to the media.

Amritsar, Oct. 21 : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today criticized Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray for indulging in extremism through his party''s anti-north Indian tirade.

MNS activists have attracted widespread criticism from across the country for recently beating up several North Indian youths, who were to appear for interviews for Indian Railways'' Grade IV jobs.

Expressing concern over the unusual face of politics emerging from Maharashtra, Badal said: "He (Raj Thackeray) is doing wrong. If the tension escalates, it could break the country."