Klinsmann dismissed as Bayern Munich coach

German champions Bayern Munich have sacked coach Jurgen Klinsmann and appointed the experienced Jupp Heynckes as his replacement for the final five games of the Bundesliga season.

Klinsmann's fate was sealed after Bayern Munich's 1-0 home defeat by Schalke on Saturday.

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Klinsmann's fate was sealed after a meeting with club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, general manager Uli Hoeness and director Karl Hopfner on Monday morning.

The 44-year-old took charge of Bayern last July, after leading an unfancied Germany side to the 2006 World Cup semifinals on home soil.

However, despite taking the club to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, he has been dismissed after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to Schalke left the club three points adrift of league leaders Wolfsburg.

Saturday's defeat, following the 5-1 Champions League aggregate reverse to Barcelona, and elimination by Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup, has proved he final straw for the club's board, eager to ensure qualification for next season's Champions League.

A statement on the Bavarian club's official Web site confirmed the decision: "The board have informed Jurgen Klinsmann that we have decided to end our co-operation. This also applies to the assistant coaches Martin Vasquez and Nick Theslof.

"The board has seen the minimum aim for the season come under threat with our recent results and has therefore decided to take this step. The board thanks Jurgen Klinsmann and his coaching team for their work and wish them all the best for the future."

Klinsmann also issued a statement on the official Web site saying: "Of course, I am very disappointed at the moment. Nevertheless, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Bayern Munich, the fans, the coaches, the players and my colleagues for an exciting time. We have laid the foundations for the future. I still believe that the team can be German champions this season."

Talking about the decision, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: "We did not come to this decision lightly. But the results of the past weeks, the way in which they came about and above all, the situation we find ourselves in five games before the end of the season forced us to act out of a sense of responsibility to the club.

"In Jupp Heynckes and Hermann Gerland, we have two experienced coaches who will take over the running of the team until the end of the season."

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Klinsmann signed a two-year contract when he joined the club last July, his first-ever domestic coaching role.

However, despite remaining in the hunt for the Bundesliga for the majority of the season, there have been many un-Bayern like moments for the club's supporters to endure. The first signs of trouble came last September when Werder Bremen embarrassed Bayern 5-2 in front of their own fans at Munich's Allianz Arena.

The 4-2 German Cup defeat by Leverkusen in March was another low-point, as was the 5-1 hammering at league leaders Wolfsburg earlier this month.

Klinsmann's replacement Heynckes has already successfully coached Bayern, winning two consecutive Bundesliga titles in 1989 and 1990 in his first coaching stint in Munich between 1987 and 1991.

He then coached Athletic Bilbao between 1992 and 1994, Eintracht Frankfurt and Tenerife before moving to Real Madrid where he delivered the Champions League to the Spanish giants in 1998 after a 32-year wait.

A lack of domestic success saw him replaced at the Bernabeu and he had brief stints at Benfica and a return to Athletic Bilbao before heading back to the Bundesliga as coach of Schalke in June 2003.

In June 2006, he was appointed coach of Borussia Moenchengladbach but stepped down after a dreadful run of results that saw the team drop to 17th place in the table after 14 consecutive games without a win.

Yemeni troops free oil tanker; 11 pirates arrested

A Yemeni oil tanker hijacked in the Gulf of Aden was freed Monday and 11 Somali pirates were arrested, Yemen's official news agency said.

11 pirates were arrested by Yemeni security forces in an operation to free the oil tanker.

Three marines were wounded in the operation conducted by Yemeni forces, according to the SABA news agency.

The tanker was seized Sunday on its way to Aden, SABA said. Aden is a port city in southwestern Yemen.

Meanwhile, two pirates were killed and one injured when Yemeni troops freed three other ships Sunday, SABA reported. Four pirates were also arrested in the operation, it added.

Piracy has become a major problem in recent years in the waters off Somalia, which has not had an effective government since 1991.

Despite the introduction of international naval patrols in the region, pirates have continued to attack commercial vessels and collect large ransoms, running into millions of dollars, from shipping companies.

Attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia's coast accounted for 61 of the 102 attacks during the first quarter of this year. That compares with six incidents for the same period in 2008, said the International Maritime Bureau, which issues regular reports on piracy worldwide.

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The European Union and several nations, including the United States, have naval forces in the region to protect vessels against pirate attacks. The head of EU naval forces in the waters off Somalia said recently that restoring long-term stability to Somalia will be what ultimately stops the attacks.

Rear Adm. Philip Jones said: "It'll be a long period of time before that's successful, and we must be ready to secure the seas until that's in place."

White House apologizes for low-flying plane

A White House official apologized Monday after a low-flying Boeing 747 spotted above the Manhattan skyline frightened workers and residents into evacuating buildings.

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty.

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The huge aircraft, which functions as Air Force One when the president is aboard, was taking part in a classified, government-sanctioned photo shoot, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," said Louis Caldera, director of the White House Military Office. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption."

Witnesses reported seeing the plane circle over the Upper New York Bay near the Statue of Liberty before flying up the Hudson River. It was accompanied by two F-16s. Watch the plane fly over Manhattan »

Two officials told CNN the White House Military Office was trying to update its file photos of Air Force One. The officials said the president was angry when he learned Monday afternoon about the flight, which sparked fear in the New York-New Jersey area.

"The president was furious about it," one of the officials said. The incident outraged many New Yorkers, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"First thing is, I'm annoyed -- furious is a better word -- that I wasn't told," he said, calling the aviation administration's decision to withhold details about the flight "ridiculous" and "poor judgment."

"Why the Defense Department wanted to do a photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center defies the imagination," he said. "Had we known, I would have asked them not to." Watch the White House respond to questions about the scare »

"I was here on 9/11," said iReporter Tom Kruk, who spotted the plane as he was getting coffee Monday morning and snapped a photo. Kruk called the sight of the aircraft low in the sky "unsettling."

Linda Garcia-Rose, a social worker who counsels post-traumatic stress disorder patients in an office just three blocks from where the World Trade Center towers once stood, called the flight an "absolute travesty."

"There was no warning. It looked like the plane was about to come into us," she said. "I'm a therapist, and I actually had a panic attack."

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Garcia-Rose, who works with nearly two dozen post-traumatic stress disorder patients ages 15 to 47, said she was inundated with phone calls from patients Monday morning.

"They're traumatized. They're asking 'How could this happen?' They're nervous. Their anxiety levels are high," she said.

Garcia-Rose is considering filing a class-action suit against the government for sanctioning the plane's unannounced flight. "I believe the government has done something really wrong," she said.

Capt. Anna Carpenter of Andrews Air Force Base said local law enforcement agencies and the Federal Aviation Administration had been given notice of the exercise.

New York Police Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said the department had been alerted to the flight by the federal agency "with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it."

Sen. Chuck Schumer echoed the mayor's sentiments in a separate news conference Monday afternoon, saying the Federal Aviation Administration should have notified the public to avoid panic.

"It is absolutely outrageous and appalling to think that the FAA would plan such a photo shoot and not warn the public, knowing full well New Yorkers still have the vivid memory of 9/11 sketched in their minds," the New York Democrat said. Schumer said the FAA's decision to not announce the fly-by "really borders on being either cruel or very very stupid."

Building evacuations also took place across the Hudson River in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Venezuelan official granted asylum in Peru

Manuel Rosales, the mayor of Maracaibo, Venezuela, has been granted political asylum in Peru, Peru's foreign minister said Monday.

Manuel Rosales denies that he illegally enriched himself as governor of Zulia state.

Rosales, a leading political opponent who lost the 2006 presidential race to Hugo Chavez, faces corruption charges in Venezuela.

He was supposed to have turned himself in to authorities last week but failed to appear. His attorney said then that Rosales had fled to Peru and would seek asylum there.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said that the asylum was granted on humanitarian grounds and that recent statements by Rosales against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were not taken into account, the state-run Andina news agency said.

Venezuelan officials say Rosales illegally enriched himself as governor of Zulia state from 2002 to 2004.

Rosales denies the allegation, saying Chavez is out to get him for political reasons and is persecuting him on trumped-up corruption charges.

"Since they haven't been able to take me off the political map by the electoral route, now they're using the power they have in all the movements of the public prosecutor," Rosales told CNN en Español last month.

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One of Rosales' lawyers noted that Chavez said publicly in October 2008, before Rosales was charged, that he wanted the mayor in prison.

In last month's interview, Rosales called the charges that he had illegally accepted money "totally false," and said he not only declared all of his income, but paid taxes on it.

Katiuska Plaza, district attorney for Zulia state, said in a 26-count complaint last month that Rosales illegally enriched himself in 2002 and 2004.

Rosales called the district attorney's actions "a manipulation," and said the prosecutor "is acting on Chavez's orders."

Another prominent Chavez opponent was arrested this month on corruption charges.

Former Venezuelan Defense Minister Raul Baduel played a key role in turning back a coup attempt against Chavez in 2002 but broke with him in November 2007 over constitutional changes Chavez was proposing. Baduel has been a strong Chavez critic since then.

Baduel, who also was the president's military general-in-chief, was arrested at gunpoint in front of his wife April 2, the general's attorney said at the time. It was Baduel's second arrest on charges that he stole $14 million from the armed forces.

He has denied the allegation and said last year the charges were politically motivated.

And Antonio Ledezma, an opposition figure who is mayor of Caracas, is finding his powers reduced. Last week, the pro-Chavez National Assembly shifted many of his powers to the federal government.

Ledezma has accused Chavez of orchestrating protests against him.

Ship's cook seized by pirates blames employers

A crew member on a U.S.-flagged cargo ship captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia is suing his employers, claiming they sent him into pirate-infested waters without adequate protection, his attorney said Monday.

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse has been charged with piracy in federal court in New York.

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Richard Hicks of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, a crew member on the Maersk Alabama, was set to file suit Monday against Waterman Steamship Corp. and Maersk Line Limited, according to the attorney, Terry Bryant.

A spokeswoman for Mobile, Alabama-based Waterman Steamship Corp. said she did not know about the suit and did not immediately comment.

A spokeswoman for Maersk Line Limited did not immediately return a call from CNN seeking comment.

The Maersk Alabama was hijacked by pirates April 8.

Hicks, working as chief steward and preparing food for other crew members, heard over the loudspeaker that pirates were on board, and he and other crew members gathered in the ship's engine room for nearly 12 hours, Bryant said in a news release.

"The engine room was dark and hot, maybe 130 degrees," Hicks said in the news release. "We were all cramping up with heat stroke symptoms when we were able to take a pirate hostage and tried to negotiate the return of our captain."

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The pirates promised to exchange Capt. Richard Phillips for the pirate hostage, but reneged on that agreement, the news release said.

Phillips had offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the freedom of his crew. He was held on a lifeboat until U.S. Navy snipers on a nearby ship fatally shot three pirates. Phillips was rescued, and a fourth pirate was arrested.

The ship's owners -- the two companies -- knowingly exposed their employees to danger and took no steps to provide appropriate security and safety for the crew, Bryant alleges.

"Waterman Steamship Corp. and Maersk Line Limited chose to rely on the United States military and taxpayers to provide after-the-fact rescue operations," Bryant said in the news release.

"This choice caused substantially more cost and risk to human life than what would have been incurred by defendants had they provided appropriate levels of security in the first place."

Hicks is seeking at least $75,000 and "reserves the right to amend this pleading for a certain amount in the future, as it is too early to determine the maximum amount of plaintiff's damages," according to the suit.

Hicks is still suffering from injuries as a result of the incident and is afraid to return to work, the news release said.

Taliban suspends regional peace talks

Taliban militants have suspended talks with the provincial government in the midst of fighting in the country's volatile northwestern region.

Pakistani soldiers on patrol in Buner district.

"Due to the military operation in Lower Dir ... we have decided to suspend dialogue with the (North West Frontier Province) government," Amir Izad, a spokesman for Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM), a Taliban-aligned group, said Monday.

This comes after Pakistan's Frontier Corps launched an offensive against suspected militants and their hideouts in Lower Dir, which neighbors the violence-plagued Swat area.

The TNSM lost contact with Sufi Muhammed, an Islamist fundamentalist leader who has been negotiating on behalf of the Taliban, on Sunday, Izad said.

"We have not been able to get any information about his whereabouts, make contact with him, or his family," according to Izad. "We will not restart the dialogue until these operations stop."

The suspected militant hideouts targeted by the military are in Islampura and Lal Qila in Lower Dir. A "heavy exchange of fire" was reported at Kala Dag and Lal Qila, the Pakistani military said Sunday.

There were reports of many Taliban deaths, including that of an "important local commander." One security force member was killed and four others were wounded, the military said.

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Army Col. Attiq Ahmed told CNN about the military operation, and a Taliban spokesman in the area confirmed it.

Taliban spokesman Mullah Mansoor Dadullah said the militants were "resisting the army operation."

The Taliban "know who the people are who raise their voices for the operation," Dadullah said. "We know them; they are on our hit list and we will target them."

Lower Dir is one of the districts included in a recent peace deal between the government and the Taliban.

The agreement signed by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari allows the Taliban to implement Islamic law, or sharia, in the region in exchange for an end to fighting. Under the Taliban's strict interpretation of sharia law, women would be prevented from even being seen in public without their husbands or fathers.

The peace deal encompasses the Malakand Division, which includes the following areas: Swat, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Buner, Shangla, Chitral and Malakand. Kohistan, which is not in Malakand division, is also covered under the deal.

Last week, the Taliban overran large sections of the Buner district, bringing them within 60 miles of the capital, Islamabad, in violation of the peace accord. The takeover of Buner brought the Taliban closer to the capital than it had been since it mounted its insurgency.

A Pakistani government official said Friday that the insurgents had completely withdrawn from the district by the end of the week, but a human rights group said people in Buner were reporting that local Taliban remained in the district.

White House could release more memos on treatment of detainees

As President Obama approaches day 100 of his administration, some in Washington caution that the torture tug-of-war could be a costly distraction.

Leg restraints await detainees at Guantanamo Bay in this 2006 photo.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration released four Bush-era memos detailing "enhanced interrogations" of suspected al Qaeda members. Now, the White House is reviewing former Vice President Dick Cheney's request to make more memos public.

Two weeks before Obama released any memos, Cheney submitted a request to the National Archives calling for the release of other documents.

He says that what he requested will prove that the Bush interrogation tactics -- which critics have called a torture program -- worked.

"I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw, that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country," Cheney said in an interview with Fox News last week.

The White House is signaling that not only is it considering honoring Cheney's request, it may go even further.

"I think the president, as you know, is a big believer in transparency," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I think one of the things that will have to be examined is whether there are additional memos that have to be released that give a broader picture of what's gone on in enhanced interrogation techniques."

The almost daily revelations are dividing Democrats between those calling for full disclosure and those urging caution.

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"We don't just turn the page without reading it. We want to make sure what the mistakes were so that the Obama administration doesn't make these mistakes," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont. said Sunday.

But Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, warned Sunday against moving to quickly.

"We need to find these things out, and we need to do it in a way that's calm and deliberative and professional, because I think all of this, on the front burner, before the public, does harm our intelligence gathering, it does harm America's position in the world," she said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Across the aisle, Republicans are insisting the Justice Department drop any investigation of Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogations.

"I think that would be a stab in the back. I think he has already demoralized the CIA, put them in a CYA mode," Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri, said Sunday on Fox News.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the former Republican presidential candidate, said prosecuting those who gave legal advice is wrong.

"I don't think those memos should have been released, but the fundamental point now is whether to prosecute people who gave the president, in my view, legitimate advice, even though it was wrong," he said. "We should not be prosecuting people who gave legal advice. It's wrong to do that to them, and it sets a terrible precedent for the future."

Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio are calling on the White House to release a list of who was briefed about the interrogation programs.

"Congress and the American people deserve a full and complete set of facts about what information was yielded by CIA's interrogation program, and they deserve to know which of their representatives in Congress were briefed about these techniques and the extent of those briefings," Boehner said in a statement Monday.

"To date, the administration has fallen short in providing this information. ... The American people have been provided an incomplete picture of exactly what intelligence was made available by the interrogation program," he said.

But Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent, said the whole debate over the memos is "moot."

"What do we gain, first, by releasing the memos; but, secondly, what do we gain from indicting lawyers for their opinions, if that is a possibility here? ... It will poison the water here in Washington. It will achieve nothing. It will make it harder for President Obama to do some of the big things he wants to do for the country," he said.

WHO raising swine flu alert level, U.S. says

The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level in response to the outbreak of swine flu that originated in Mexico.

Relatives of flu patients wait oustside Mexico's National Institute of Respiratory Diseases.

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The move to a level four alert indicates the world body has determined the virus is capable of significant human-to-human transmission.

Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general, said the move did not mean a pandemic was inevitable. He added the agency would focus efforts on mitigating, rather than containing the virus.

More cases were confirmed Monday in the United States, Canada and Europe. The WHO said the U.S. has confirmed 47 cases, Mexico 26, Canada six and Spain one. Two more were confirmed in Scotland.

In Mexico the virus is believed to be responsible for at least 149 deaths -- though most of those have not yet been confirmed -- while almost 2,000 have been hospitalized.

Some health experts fear the disease could become a pandemic, partly because it has killed young, healthy adults in Mexico.

Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said. "The number of cases, unfortunately, will continue to increase," he said. Watch how the disease is emptying churches and soccer grounds »

Mexico closed all schools until at least May 6 to help curb the spread of swine flu, officials announced Monday.

A U.S. federal official confirmed the U.S. figure -- up from 20 with all the new cases coming from a New York school where eight cases were previously confirmed.

The European Union's health commissioner Monday urged people "to avoid non-essential travel to the areas which are reported to be in the center of the clusters" of a swine flu outbreak.

Andorra Vassiliou's latest comments soften an earlier statement urging people "to avoid traveling to both Mexico and the United States due to concerns about swine flu." iReport.com: Do you think we should be worried about swine flu?

The EU issued a statement clarifying that Vassiliou's remarks were her personal comments and that travel advisories can be issued only by member states and not by the EU itself.

The first case of swine flu in Europe was confirmed Monday in Spain. Health minister Trinidad Jimenez said a 23-year-old man who returned from studying in Mexico last Wednesday tested positive for the virus at a hospital in southeastern Spain.

At least 16 more cases are being treated as possible swine flu, Jimenez told a news conference. Earlier, Jimenez met with health officials to discuss Spain's response to the crisis.

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"We do not have an emergency situation in Spain, but we are working to prevent any possible development, and we are taking action in accord with the World Health Organization," she said.

Spain's Ministry of Health has urged travelers recently returned from Mexico and the U.S. to be on the lookout for symptoms of the virus, including fever, coughing and respiratory problems.

A few hours later, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "Tests have demonstrated conclusively that the two Scottish cases of swine flu are positive."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said: "We are concerned that this virus could cause a new influenza pandemic. It could be mild, in its effects, or potentially be severe. We do not yet know which way it will go. But we are concerned that, in Mexico, most of those who died were young and healthy adults.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, said the EU warning was "not warranted." Watch the CDC assessment »

President Barack Obama said Monday that the outbreak was a "cause for concern" but not a "cause for alarm."

He said the federal government was "closely monitoring" emerging cases and had declared a public health emergency as a "precautionary tool" to ensure the availability of adequate resources to combat the spread of the virus.

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Israel and New Zealand, where 22 students and three teachers were quarantined after returning for a three-week trip to Mexico, are also investigating suspected cases. South Korea says it will test travelers arriving from the U.S.

Swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease that usually affects pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus. The current strain is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which is a mix of human and animal versions.

When the flu spreads person-to-person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to treat or fight off because people have no natural immunity.

The symptoms are similar to common flu. They include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The virus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person. People can become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

Researchers are trying to determine how easily it can jump from person to person. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general, said it was too early to predict whether there will be a mild or serious pandemic.

In 1968, a "Hong Kong" flu pandemic killed about 1 million people worldwide. And in 1918, a "Spanish" flu pandemic killed as many as 100 million people.

Rebels: Sri Lanka still bombing civilians

Sri Lanka ordered an end to combat operations against Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's north, the president's office said Monday. But the rebels accused the military of continuing to bomb civilians.

Sri Lankan soldiers stand guard next to a tank captured from the Tamil Tigers.

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"Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy-caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties," according a statement from the Presidential Secretariat.

A rebel Web site, Tamilnet.com, immediately accused the government of violating its own order and "deceiving the international community."

"Two Sri Lanka air force fighter bombers continued to bomb civilian targets in Mu'l'li-vaaykkaal after the announcement by the Sri Lankan forces that it would not deploy heavy weapons or carry out air attacks," Tamilnet said, citing S. Puleedevan, director of the Tamil Peace Secretariat.

"Obviously we need to see what that means in practice," John Holmes, the head of U.N. humanitarian operations, said about the government announcement to end combat operations. "But, on the face of it, I think it's good news."

The military will now concentrate on "saving" and "rescuing civilians," who have been caught in the fighting between government forces and rebel fighters, the presidential statement said.

The government's decision followed an unscheduled meeting of the National Security Council called by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The session included the commanders of the army, navy and air force.

The developments came a day after Sri Lankan officials rejected a proposed cease-fire from the Tamil rebels, warning instead that government troops would continue a new offensive until the group surrendered, a senior government official told CNN.

"The government is firm that (the rebels) lay down their arms and surrender. We do not recognize this so-called offer," said Lakshman Hulugalle, director of Sri Lanka's Media Center for National Security.

The Tiger leadership had asked the international community to "pressure the Sri Lankan government to reciprocate" on the cease-fire offer. The United States, the United Nations, the European Union and India have called for a cease-fire.

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The foreign ministers of three nations are due in Sri Lanka on Wednesday -- David Miliband of the United Kingdom, Bernard Kouchner of France and Carl Bildt of Sweden.

The rebels' proposed cease-fire came six days after the Sri Lankan army launched a new offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). Government troops made significant advances into rebel-held territory on Friday and Saturday, according to Sri Lankan army sources.

A government-imposed deadline for the Tigers to surrender passed last Tuesday. Tens of thousands of displaced civilians currently remain wedged in a dwindling swath of territory controlled by the Tigers along the country's northeastern coast.

Government troops say they have rescued 39,000 civilians trapped in the area, but a U.N. refugee agency said Friday that a wave of "fresh displacement" now exceeds 100,000 people. Watch civilians describe what they are experiencing »

Fifty metric tons of relief supplies -- which landed in Colombo on Monday -- will be sent by UNICEF to the north to help displaced residents.

UNICEF, which called the situation in the north a "catastrophe for children," said the displaced lack food, water and basic medical supplies.

The rebels estimate the number of civilians still located in the territory at more than 160,000.

The Sri Lankan military said it "freed 3,254 civilians from LTTE clutches" in operations Sunday.

The Tigers have been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka's northeast since 1983. As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began, and the group has been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries, including the United States and the European Union.

Quake strikes near Acapulco, Mexico

A moderate quake measuring 5.6 in magnitude struck southwestern Mexico near the resort city of Acapulco on Monday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

USGS measured the quake's epicenter in the state of Guerrero about 43 miles northeast of Acapulco.

Authorities in Acapulco evacuated hotels there, although there were no reports of damage, according to CNN affiliate TV Azteca.

The temblor was felt about 145 miles (230 km) to the north in Mexico City. Watch evacutions in Mexico City »

CNN Producer Lonzo Cook, who is in the Mexican capital, said people there headed out into the streets after a vibration shook the building for about 30 to 40 seconds. There was no visible damage, he said.

"People in neighboring office buildings -- quite a majority of them wearing masks because of the swine flu outbreak -- were piling out into the streets," Cook said. "There were a few humorous people on the stairways saying, 'This is the apocalypse. First the swine flu, and now this.' " iReport.com: Send photos, video

However, most people were in "high spirits," Cook said.

Swine flu cases confirmed in Europe, U.S. and Canada

More cases of swine flu were confirmed Monday in the United States, Canada and Europe as the World Health Organization described the outbreak as a "public health emergency of international concern."

Relatives of flu patients wait oustside Mexico's National Institute of Respiratory Diseases.

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It said the U.S. has confirmed 40 cases, Mexico 26, Canada six and Spain one. Two more were confirmed in Scotland.

In Mexico the virus is believed to be responsible for at least 149 deaths -- though most of those have not yet been confirmed -- while almost 2,000 have been hospitalized.

Some health experts fear the disease could become a pandemic, partly because it has killed young, healthy adults in Mexico.

Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordoba Villalobos said. "The number of cases, unfortunately, will continue to increase," he said.

Mexico closed all schools until at least May 6 to help curb the spread of swine flu, officials announced Monday.

A U.S. federal official confirmed the U.S. figure -- up from 20 with all the new cases coming from a New York school where eight cases were previously confirmed.

The European Union's health commissioner Monday called on people to avoid traveling to both Mexico and the United States. Watch how the disease is emptying churches and soccer grounds »

People "should avoid traveling to Mexico or the U.S. unless it is very urgent for them," Andorra Vassiliou said.

The first case of swine flu in Europe was confirmed Monday in Spain. Health minister Trinidad Jimenez said a 23-year-old man who returned from studying in Mexico last Wednesday tested positive for the virus at a hospital in southeastern Spain.

At least 16 more cases are being treated as possible swine flu, Jimenez told a news conference. Earlier, Jimenez met with health officials to discuss Spain's response to the crisis.

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"We do not have an emergency situation in Spain, but we are working to prevent any possible development, and we are taking action in accord with the World Health Organization," she said.

Spain's Ministry of Health has urged travelers recently returned from Mexico and the U.S. to be on the lookout for symptoms of the virus, including fever, coughing and respiratory problems.

A few hours later, Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "Tests have demonstrated conclusively that the two Scottish cases of swine flu are positive."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said: "We are concerned that this virus could cause a new influenza pandemic. It could be mild, in its effects, or potentially be severe. We do not yet know which way it will go. But we are concerned that, in Mexico, most of those who died were young and healthy adults.

Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, said the EU warning was "not warranted." Watch the CDC assessment »

President Barack Obama said Monday that the outbreak was a "cause for concern" but not a "cause for alarm."

He said the federal government was "closely monitoring" emerging cases and had declared a public health emergency as a "precautionary tool" to ensure the availability of adequate resources to combat the spread of the virus.

Health Library

• MayoClinic.com: Influenza (flu)

Israel and New Zealand, where 22 students and three teachers were quarantined after returning for a three-week trip to Mexico, are also investigating suspected cases. South Korea says it will test travelers arriving from the U.S.

Swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease that usually affects pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus. The current strain is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which is a mix of human and animal versions.

When the flu spreads person-to-person, instead of from animals to humans, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to treat or fight off because people have no natural immunity.

The symptoms are similar to common flu. They include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The virus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person. People can become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

Researchers are trying to determine how easily it can jump from person to person. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's assistant director-general, said it was too early to predict whether there will be a mild or serious pandemic. iReport.com: Do you think we should be worried about swine flu?

In 1968, a "Hong Kong" flu pandemic killed about 1 million people worldwide. And in 1918, a "Spanish" flu pandemic killed as many as 100 million people.

Top militant 'arrested in Iraq'

TV network Al-Arabiya ran an alleged photograph of the little-known leade

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has said that a man arrested in Baghdad last week is a top figure in the al-Qaeda-related insurgency.

Mr Maliki told the BBC Abu Omar al-Baghdadi had been tracked for more than two months by Iraqi security services.

His arrest was reported last Thursday but the reports were not confirmed.

Baghdadi is a nom de guerre for a shadowy figure thought to lead the Islamic State in Iraq, an umbrella group of radical Sunni factions.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad, Mr Maliki disclosed that a purely Iraqi intelligence operation had tracked the wanted man's movements from the inside.

Nom de guerre

He had been identified by former close associates who had worked with him, and attended his inauguration as leader of the Islamic State in Iraq, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Prime Minister Maliki said Mr Baghdadi was being interrogated, and that the results would be made public.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is a shadowy figure - some American commanders have even cast doubt on his very existence, our correspondent says.

The name is a nom de guerre - Iraqi officials say his real name is Ahmad al-Mjamei, though he has also been known under other names.

Jim Muir, BBC correspondent in Baghdad With around 150 people killed in just two days this week, Iraqis are wondering whether the latest attacks herald a return to those black times. Nobody can be sure that they don't. But so far, they are a blip on the screen - a big blip, but not one that takes the country anywhere near back to the levels of violence prevailing two years ago. Read Jim's thoughts in full

The capture or killing of other senior al-Qaeda or related leaders in the past has not on its own made a perceptible difference to the state of the insurgency, our correspondent adds.

Protest

The arrest of Baghdadi on Thursday came amid an upsurge of the violence in Iraq.

About 150 were killed in just two days, sparking fears of a slide back into the bloody chaos that was a hallmark of Iraq following the US-led invasion.

Meanwhile on Sunday, a woman was shot dead during a US raid on a house in the southern Iraqi town of Kut in which at least five people were arrested.

The US military said she had been nearby during the operation, and had moved into the line of fire.

But the death was condemned as a crime by the local provincial council, and hundreds of people gathered at the local morgue to protest, reported the Associated Press news agency.

Italian cruise ship foils pirates

A captain of an Italian cruise ship has given the BBC a dramatic account of how his crew fended off a pirate attack near the coast of Somalia.

Capt Ciro Pinto said six pirates in a speedboat approached his Melody ship and opened fire, but then fled after security men fired in the air.

He said his crew also sprayed water on the gunmen when they tried to climb aboard using a ladder.

No-one was hurt in Saturday's incident. Some 1,500 people were on the vessel.

Somali pirates have also seized an empty Yemeni oil tanker and clashed with coast guards on Sunday, a Yemeni official said.

Two pirates were killed in the action as the Yemeni coast guard tried to free the vessel, a Yemeni government official was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

The official said three pirates and two Yemeni coast guards were also wounded in the exchange.

See map of how piracy is affecting the region and countries around the world

Last year, pirates attacked more than 100 ships in the region, demanding huge ransom for their release. Their attacks have intensified recently.

'Throwing chairs'

Capt Pinto told the BBC that the pirates tried to hijack his ship late on Saturday, about 290km (180 miles) north of Victoria in the Seychelles.

"One white small boat with six people on board approached the port [left] side of the ship and started shooting."

The captain said the pirates fired some 200 rounds of shots on the vessel.

His said "our security started shooting in the air... and also we started spraying some water" to beat off the attackers.

Capt Pinto said the pirates were forced to give up after about five minutes of shooting and a high-speed chase.

Samantha Hendey from Durban, South Africa, told the BBC that her sister Tabitha Nicholson was on board the ship during the attack and the situation was "pretty dramatic".

"She said that there were lots of passengers on deck watching it unfold and they even took action themselves by throwing chairs overboard, trying to hit the pirates," Samantha said.

"She said there were lots of bullet holes in the ship but that they were not serious enough to force it to return to port."

The head of the Italy's MSC Cruises, which owns the Meloday, credited the captain for his "cool-headed" handling of the incident, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.

The ship was on a cruise from South Africa to Italy. It was now headed as scheduled for the Jordanian port of Aqaba.

Somali pirates have hijacked about a dozen ships since the start of April, despite the presence of around 20 foreign naval vessels in the area.

International warships have been patrolling the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden in recent months as part of an effort to counter piracy.

They have freed a number of ships, but attacks have continued.

Somalia has been without an effective administration since 1991, fuelling the lawlessness which has allowed piracy to thrive.

Shipping companies last year handed over about $80m (£54m) in ransom payments to the gangs.

Sri Lanka rebels call ceasefire

This undated photo released by pro-Tamil media reportedly shows a government air strike inside a no-fire zone and civilians fleeing

Tamil Tiger rebels fighting government forces in north-east Sri Lanka have declared a unilateral ceasefire.

Rebel spokesman Seevaratnam Puleethevan told the BBC the move was due to an "unprecedented humanitarian crisis".

Sri Lanka's defence secretary however dismissed the announcement as "a joke", insisting the rebels must surrender.

The rebels have been beaten back to a 12 sq km (5 sq m) area. The UN says some 50,000 civilians remain trapped but the army puts the number at 15,000.

See a map of the region

The defence ministry reports capturing the village of Valayanmadam, and says 23 rebels surrendered and 200 civilians were "rescued" there on Sunday morning. The report could not be verified independently.

The Tigers' announcement came as the United Nations' top humanitarian official, John Holmes, was meeting Sri Lankan officials to call for access for aid workers to the war zone and government-run camps for thousands of displaced people.

Aid workers have been barred from the area since the fighting escalated last year and the rebels say the government is deliberately blocking food aid - a charge the Sri Lankan authorities deny.

Propaganda war

The rebels said they were responding to calls made by the UN, EU, the governments of India and others.

From Charles Haviland in Colombo Outlawed as a terrorist group by many countries, the Tigers are trying to show they are clearly aligned with the UN and Western countries at this point, in contrast to the Sri Lankan government which is continually rejecting the chorus of international calls for a halt in its offensive. This is not the first time the Tigers have declared their readiness for a ceasefire in recent months. Their past offers have often been sent to key international players with an interest in the Sri Lankan situation. The government claims the war is nearly at an end and alleges that the Tigers have used past ceasefires to regroup and re-arm. Analysis: Stark end game

They said the unilateral ceasefire would come into immediate effect.

Spokesman Mr Puleethevan added that the Tigers would maintain their ceasefire only if the government reciprocated.

"It is purely for humanitarian purposes and the duration will depend on the response of the Sri Lankan government," he told AFP news agency by phone from inside rebel-held territory.

Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC the Tigers were the "the losing side."

Saying the army was within "walking distance" of rebel-controlled areas, he called for the rebels to surrender immediately and release all civilians within the conflict zone.

Images from surveillance drones showed there were 15,000 civilians left in the war zone, he added.

Denying media reports that he had been stopping food supplies to trapped civilians, he said that he himself had asked the World Food Programme and the Red Cross to deliver relief to them.

A bitter propaganda battle is in progress, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

The Tigers accuse the government of bringing the threat of starvation to civilians inside the war zone.

Troops have ringed off the Tigers

The government and pro-government media accuse the Tigers of keeping Tamil civilians as hostages and murdering people trying to flee their control, including little children.

The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil minority since 1983.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in the war, but that figure could now be far higher because of intensified fighting in recent weeks.

Hospitals and government-run camps for displaced people in the north-east have been flooded by people fleeing the shrinking rebel-held zone as the military closes in on the rebels.

'Very dire' situation

Speaking in Thailand on his way to Sri Lanka, Mr Holmes said the civilians caught up in the conflict were suffering not only a high casualty rate from the fighting but from a lack of access to food, clean water and medical supplies.

"The situation of these people is very dire and that's why we need to somehow find a way to stop the fighting and get them out of there so we can look after them properly," he said.

A UN document being circulated around diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka estimates that nearly 6,500 civilians have died and 14,000 have been injured since the end of January.

The White House said it was "deeply concerned about the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers and the mounting death toll".

It called on both sides to adhere to international humanitarian law and to "stop fighting immediately and allow civilians to safely leave the combat zone".