World piracy

France will authorise the deployment of armed guards on ships as part of anti-piracy measures, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tueseday. International fleets patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean have greatly curtailed Somali piracy in recent years. Since 2008, French shipping companies have enjoyed protection by the French Navy to starve off acts of piracy, but they haven't been allowed to take on armed guards, unlike those from Britain, Spain or Denmark.VIDEOGRAPHIC