unspecified

number of prisoners. Freeing political detainees is a key opposition demand.

This is the World News from the BBC in London.

Four Americans on board a yacht held hostage by Somali pirates have been killed by their captors. The US Navy said that the crew of one of its warships was negotiating with the pirates when shooting

broke out

aboard the captured yacht, the Quest. Vice Admiral Mark Fox is the commander of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

“Gunfire erupted inside the cabin of the Quest. Several pirates appeared on deck and moved up to the bow with their hands in the air in surrender. US Naval reaction forces closed in on the Quest and boarded the yacht. As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, US sailors discovered that all four hostages had been shot by their captors.”

The American said that they killed two of the pirates and found two more dead on the yacht. The others were captured.

Rescue work is continuing in New Zealand to find dozens of people feared trapped under collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake struck the city of Christchurch. The civil defence ministry said 32 people had been confirmed dead so far. Initially the government put the number of fatalities at 65. The ministry said 11 people had been found alive. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key described the centre of Christchurch as “a scene of devastation”.