1.   In the past, North Korea has occasionally shot down American aircraft or detained American vessels.

2.   A navy patrol boat fired on cigarette smugglers, wounding two, and detained their vessel, the Lebanese military said in a statement Saturday.

3.   A U.N. resolution requires countries to detain all vessels and cargoes suspected of being involved in violating sanctions.

4.   Amelia said regardless of the concession arrangement, the fact was that at the time the vessels were detained, the skippers did not have a valid licence.

5.   Both the Foreign Ministry and the Rotterdam-based company have declined to say why the vessels were being detained.

6.   Coast guards are able to detain vessels until their operators have corrected problems.

7.   Coast guard authorities have the right to detain any vessel, of any flag, visiting British ports which do not meet international safety requirements.

8.   Magistrates said the vessel will be detained for three months if the fine is not paid.

9.   That means agents with reasonable cause for action can detain a vessel in a local port until the nation whose flag the boat is flying takes responsibility.

10.   The agency said a Panama-registered cargo vessel also was detained when parts of the hull and bulkheads were found to be severely corroded.