In this task, you are given news articles and you need to generate a highlight, i.e., a short summary, with a maximum length of 10 lines.
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Question: NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- Three British guards jumped overboard and were rescued from the water after battling in vain to prevent pirates hijacking a chemical tanker off the coast of Somalia. Three British security guards board a helicopter to be transferred to a Royal Navy vessel. The Liberian-flagged Biscaglia came under "sustained and heavy attack" early Friday morning, Nick Davis, Director of Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS), said in a statement. The three APMSS-employed security guards -- all former British servicemen -- mounted "sustained non-lethal resistance" but were unable to stop the attackers seizing control of the ship, Davis said. The trio were airlifted to safety by a German naval helicopter and flown to a French frigate after the vessel summoned assistance from coalition warships. They were later transferred to a British Royal Navy ship. All three were unhurt, Davis said. "I have spoken with my team leader on the phone and he informs me that the level of violence was significant and forced them reluctantly to leave the vessel after every effort was made to ensure the safety of the ships crew," Davis said. Pirates continued to shoot at the three in the water, Davis said. "The hijacked vessel with pirates in control then attempted to run them down." The Biscaglia is managed by Singapore-based Ishima and owned by Winged Foot Shipping in the Marshall Islands and was crewed by 25 Indians and two Bangladeshis who are believed to be still onboard. The vessel is believed to be on its way to an anchorage in Puntland, northeastern Somalia, Davis said. iReport.com: Share your view from 'Inside Africa' Also Friday, pirates released the Greek ship MV Centauri, which was hijacked in September off the coast of Somalia, according to Andrew Mwangura, the head of the Kenya Seafarers Association. There was no immediate information about the 25 crew members on board the ship when it was taken. A multinational naval force including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters seas near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, following a sharp increase in pirate attacks in the region. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year. So far this year, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off the coast of Somalia coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Center. The most high-profile hijacking so far came earlier this month, when pirates seized a Saudi oil tanker carrying $100 million worth of oil and a crew of 25, although that attack occurred outside the pirates' normal operational range, 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. Pirates are still holding the ship. Another vessel held since September is the Ukrainian MV Farina, which was carrying a cargo of weapons and tanks and a crew of 22. In an interview provided to CNN this week, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate. "The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything." The interview was conducted in August by journalists working for the Somali news organization, Garowe.

Answer: 3 security guards battle pirates, jump overboard as tanker hijacked off Somalia .
British trio were rescued from water by German naval helicopter .
Liberian-flagged Biscaglia also carrying 25 Indians, 2 Bangladeshis .
Pirates release Greek ship MV Centauri, held since September .


Question: (CNN) -- Look out air travelers. A congressional slugfest over the U.S. deficit is threatening to trigger higher airfares and widespread slowdowns at the nation's airports. Remember that big fight in Congress last year over the national budget deficit? Eventually Congress and the White House agreed to scheduled budget cuts that are so deep that lawmakers would be forced to come together on tough choices. Washington wonks call these cuts "sequestration." Related story: Sequestration is the 'dumbest thing' The Federal Aviation Administration is in the cross hairs for sequestration -- with a possible $1 billion in mandatory cuts scheduled to occur as soon as January. The FAA chief warned of the impact of such cuts. And a new study says the cuts would result in fewer air traffic controllers, customs officers and security officers. The FAA's sweeping overhaul of the U.S. air traffic system also would take a hit. NextGen, as it's called, is aimed at improving efficiency and increasing safety. "If the sequester were to occur, we would face some very drastic cuts in services and these investments," said FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta, in an October speech. "These cuts would impact air traffic control services, NextGen implementation, and aircraft certification -- all of which are critical to our ability to move forward with aviation in this century. "They would result in significantly less efficient and less convenient air travel service for the American traveling public. We will always, however, maintain the highest levels of safety." It's anybody's guess -- and up to Congress -- whether the cuts will actually happen. But groups representing pilots and the aerospace industry say it's time to get nervous. Opinion: Clock ticking on defense cuts . Marion Blakey, who headed the FAA during the George W. Bush administration and who now leads an aerospace industry lobbying organization, warned in August that just the threat of the cuts is already having a chilling effect. Consumers should be worried, she warns. "This will affect their ability to fly when they want and how they want," Blakey says. "It will certainly be a drag on the airlines, which then will incur great cost, which then will be passed on to the consumer or it will cut into the carriers' very meager profits and that's not healthy." Blakey's group, the Aerospace Industries Association, and Econsult Corp. released a study in August that paints a worst-case scenario, including possible closure of 246 airport control towers, 1,500 fewer air traffic controllers and the loss of 9,000 security screeners and 1,600 customs officers. Obviously, fewer controllers, screeners and customs people would throw a wrench into an already stressed air travel system. "A billion dollars is a body blow to the FAA," Blakey says. For industry planners, Blakey says January is right around the corner, and making industry decisions amid such uncertainty comes with an economic price that will affect the consumer. Not only would airline passengers feel the cuts, but pilots of small aircraft, known as general aviation, or GA, will see ramifications, both in safety and efficiency, says Melissa Rudinger, senior vice president of government affairs at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The cuts could include the shut down of more than 200 control towers, "which operate almost exclusively at GA locations," she says. "It's unclear to us how the FAA would go about literally closing the doors and turning out the lights," she says. "But there's definitely a safety risk that would have us concerned." Safety would not be an issue, Blakey says. "I have every confidence they'll keep it safe," she says, although she expects FAA controllers will slow traffic at small airports by reducing hours of operation and capacity. "I do not anticipate that the FAA will reduce hours and personnel at the nation's big air traffic control centers and the TRACON radar tracking centers," she says. For now, many in the aviation industry are taking a wait-and-see attitude. "There is a great deal of uncertainty about whether sequestration will actually happen and what the real impact would be on commercial aviation," writes a spokeswoman for the airline industry trade group Airlines for America. Other groups aren't talking at all. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association wouldn't comment in August, and the FAA referred questions to the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB has 30 days to analyze the sequestration legislation and to make recommendations to the White House. An internal OMB memo (PDF) in July said sequestration would be "highly destructive to national security and domestic priorities, as well as to core government functions," and that Obama has submitted deficit reduction proposals to Congress aimed at avoiding the cuts. The cuts would delay deployment of the multibillion-dollar NextGen program by at least a decade, according to the study. "It's a very big deal to keep that on track," Blakey says. "It's going to get hit; it's just a question of how much." This is not just about FAA, Blakey says. Think about the idea of cutting 9,000 Transportation Security Administration screeners. "How do you like the lines now? How are you going to like them then?" She says, "People would like to treat this as a hypothetical or a simple congressional debate." But the threat will grow, she warns, unless "people step up and try again to address the long-term issues" surrounding the nation's debt and deficit -- or they postpone the FAA cuts to give themselves more time for a compromise.

Answer: Budget battle may result in slower air travel, higher fares .
FAA cuts could lead to fewer controllers, security and customs officers, study says .
Ex-FAA chief: Fear of the cuts is already having a chilling effect .


Question: (CNN)  -- Space shuttle Discovery launched just before midnight Friday on a mission to the international space station. Space shuttle Discovery lifts off late Friday from Kennedy Space Center in a photo from iReporter Alan Walters. The crew of seven astronauts includes one from Mexico and another from Sweden. One of those seven, Nicole Stott, will remain on the station as a flight engineer, while astronaut Timothy Kopra is to return home aboard the shuttle. Also on board: The Leonardo logistics module, science experiments and the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), named for fake newsman Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." Colbert won an online poll conducted by NASA to name the newest space station compartment, but Colbert and the space agency compromised to give the moniker to the treadmill. The new compartment was given the name Tranquility. NASA astronaut Cady Coleman said the treadmill is an essential addition to the space station.  Watch shuttle launch » . "We have the treadmill now to keep them healthy, which is really part of being able to come home in one piece. So it is an essential part," Coleman said. iReport.com: Discovery lights night sky . Discovery's liftoff, originally set for Tuesday, had been postponed three times -- first for bad weather, and twice more while mission managers checked out indications of a faulty valve.

Answer:
Space shuttle Discovery launches just before midnight Friday .
Discovery is scheduled to fly to international space station with a crew of seven .
Logistics module, science experiments, Stephen Colbert treadmill also aboard .