NEW DELHI - INDIA announced a massive overhaul of its security and intelligence agencies on Thursday in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks that left 171 dead and provoked a public outcry over the government's response.

Among the new measures, the government will move to create a national investigative agency, beef up coastal security forces, better train local police and strengthen anti-terror laws, said Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, the country's top law enforcement official.

JAKARTA - FORMER Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas died of a heart attack in hospital in Singapore on Thursday aged 76, reports said.

'I have just contacted our embassy in Singapore and received the information that Alatas passed away at 7.30 am local time,' Indonesian official Kamarullhah Halim was quoted as saying by the state-run Antara news agency.

WASHINGTON - NEW claims for unemployment benefits have reached their highest level in 26 years as companies cut workers at a rapid pace.

The Labour Department reported Thursday that initial applications for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec 6 rose to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 from an upwardly revised figure of 515,000 in the previous week. That was far more than the 525,000 claims Wall Street economists expected.

NAIROBI - Somali pirates have raked in more than US$120 million (S$179 million) in ransom money since the start of 2008, the United Nations' top envoy for Somalia said at an international conference here on Thursday.

Ahmedou Ould Abdallah said pirates had attacked 32 ships since October alone and warned the 140 delegates gathered in Nairobi that 'the threat of piracy cannot and should not be underestimated anymore.' 'They may have collected over US$120 million for this year, with total impunity,' he said.