Washington, Apr. 14 : The Somali pirates picked off by Navy Seal sharpshooters for holding Captain. Richard Phillips hostage were a ragged band of boys with little experience, but had plenty of weapons, the New York Post quoted officials, as saying yesterday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the four brigands who took Phillips captive after a botched hijacking of the Maersk Alabama were only 17 to 19 years old.

"Untrained teenagers with heavy weapons," Gates told a students and faculty at the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Virginia.

Washington, April 14 : Researchers have developed a technology that detects damage to critical suspension components in military vehicles simply by driving over a speed bumplike "diagnostic cleat" containing sensors.

"Our aim is to save time and maintenance costs, but more importantly to reduce downtime by catching damage before it leads to failure in the field," said Douglas Adams, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdue University's Center for Systems Integrity.

New York, Apr 14 : American pop singer Nick Lachey’s romance with former MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo is apparently going through a rough patch.

According to sources, the couple “are on the rocks big time. They argue all the time, and Nick is done with her. He feels like she’s holding him back, careerwise.”

Minnillo was recently seen storming out of an Los Angeles restaurant with an angry face, while Lachey chased her in embarrassment.

London, Apr 14 : With a rise in cyber frauds, criminals can now purchase full personal identities for "less than a can of cola", according to an Internet security firm.

The annual Symantec Internet Security Threat Report revealed that the market for stolen personal information, including credit card details, names addresses and dates of birth, grew to such an extent last year that it led to a price war of sorts.

Zagreb - In the midsts of the global economic meltdown, tourism-dependent Croatia is anxiously awaiting the first results of the Easter holiday break. With holiday-makers to the former Yugoslav republic providing nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, tourism figures aren't just of interest to the hotel and catering trade - they could well affect the prospects for the government in Zagreb.

Even though first signs show high visitor numbers and packed hotels, any relief is tempered by the knowledge that the year ahead will still be tricky.

Bali Island, Indonesia - Ministers and officials from 40 countries began a two-day meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Tuesday to discuss people smuggling and the fate of migrants from Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic group. The meeting, co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia, will discuss Asia-Pacific solutions to people smuggling and trafficking and ways to improve border security.