Athens  - Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos was freed unharmed by his abductors after a weeklong kidnapping in which a ransom was apparently paid, according to media reports early Tuesday in Greece.

The amount of the ransom was not known.

Panagopoulos, 74, founder of Greek ferry operator Superfast Ferries, was abducted on January 12 by three men carrying Kalashikov assault rifles as he was being driven to work. The chauffeur was quickly released and reported the kidnapping to police.

London, January 19: The family of a murder victim has been enraged by the running of a Facebook page by his killer from inside jail.

Andrew McVicar, 25, was sentenced to life imprisonment for ramming a broken bottle in 19-year-old Tony Harrington's jugular vein.

The murderer reportedly set up a page on the website from his cell at Ford Open Prison in West Sussex.

He is even believed to have used a illegally-held mobile phone to post pictures of himself behind bars on the Internet.

Although the page had been removed last week, prison authorities launched a probe into the matter.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police seized cannabis valued at 169,800 ringgit (51,455 dollars) and detained two Indonesian men, a news report said Monday.

Police from the southern Johor state raided a shop early Sunday and discovered 8.5 kilograms, said district police chief Roslan Zainuddin.

"The suspects have been in operation since two months ago. We are investigating whether the drugs were supplied from any neighbouring country," Roslan was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal Monday.

Manila - Muslim militants holding captive three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a southern Philippine island have demanded that the military halt rescue operations, a Philippine Red Cross official said Monday.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, said the hostages - Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba - relayed their captor's demand in telephone calls.

"They (the abducted ICRC staff) called up this morning and said they are okay," Gordon told a local radio station. "They said their abductors want the military to call off the pursuit operations."

Gordon said the ICRC staff also said they were unharmed.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police on Monday shot dead three Indonesian men believed to be part of a gang responsible for more than 50 armed robberies in several states, a top police officer said.

The robbers targeted homes of politicians and high-profile corporate figures, and were believed to have hit at least 50 homes in seven states, said central Selangor state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar.

The three, including the alleged gang leader, were killed during a pre-dawn gun fight in the southern state of Johor, he said.

Manila - The Philippine military kept mum on Saturday on the continuing efforts to rescue three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers seized by Islamist militants earlier in the week.

First Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho, spokeswoman for the armed forces' Western Mindanao Command, said the military will no longer provide updates regarding the kidnappings of Swiss Andreas Notter, 38; Eugenio Vagni, 62; and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, 44.

The three had just visited the provincial jail on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila on Thursday when suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels blocked the path of their vehicle and seized them.