WORLD BRIEFS

SOMALIA: Hijacked crew rescued

British and U.S. forces freed an Italian cargo ship hijacked by Somali pirates in a dramatic rescue Tuesday after retrieving a message in a bottle tossed by hostages from a porthole alerting ships nearby that the crew was safely sealed inside an armored area. All 23 crew members of the Montecristo were brought to safety, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. The 11 pirates were taken into custody. The crew locked themselves inside an armored area of the vessel when the pirates boarded the ship Monday, Italian Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said. Safe from the pirates threats, the crew continued to navigate the ship. The message in the bottle gave an important signal that the crew was out of harm's way and that a rescue operation could be launched without risking injury. The pirates surrendered, some throwing their weapons in the sea, and were arrested, he said. The pirates attacked the ship Monday, 620 miles off Somalia, as the crew was hauling scrap iron to Vietnam from Liverpool, England.

MYANMAR: New regime to free 6,300

The newly elected civilian government announced Tuesday it will release more than 6,300 prisoners in an amnesty that could help patch up the country's human rights record and normalize relations with Western nations. The long-ruling military government handed power in March to a military-backed civilian administration. President Thein Sein, a former army officer, has begun a dialogue with the democracy movement and promised other reforms that could start to reverse the harsh policies of decades of military rule.

LIBERIA: Presidential runoff seen

Votes were being counted as Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf may face a second round after presidential and legislative elections. Polling stations closed late Tuesday. Johnson-Sirleaf, 72, faced 15 candidates. If no one wins more than 50 percent, a second round of balloting will be held.