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NEWS ABOUT: hostage

NY Gunman Surrenders in School Standoff

SWAT and local police negotiating with hostage-taker in Pine Plains

(Newser) - A gunman holding an upstate New York school principal hostage has surrendered and is in custody, reports CNN . More than 100 police officers and a SWAT team negotiated with the gunman, who a local official said was a former student in his 40s. Pine Plains is located about 90 miles... More »

NYT Reporter Recounts 7 Months as Prisoner

David Rohde begins first-person account of capture, escape

(Newser) - New York Times reporter David Rohde begins a gripping first-person account of his 7 months as a Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan before he managed to escape. In the first of the five-part series, he writes of his capture ("I waited for the sound of gunfire. I knew I might... More »

Fugitive Holding Newlyweds Caught Napping

Pair gave Colo. suspect blankets, pillow; fled when he dozed

(Newser) - A fugitive who’d dodged the law for days was nabbed when he fell asleep after taking a pair of newlyweds hostage in Kansas, AP reports. The couple gave the escaped con pillows and blankets and slipped out unharmed after he dozed off. Now, he’s set to return to... More »

Taliban Hostage's Hometown Stayed Quiet on Kidnapping

(Newser) - The Taliban's capture of an American soldier in Afghanistan is old news for some residents of his hometown, but they kept quiet out of concern for his safety, the AP reports. The family of Bowe R. Bergdahl asked neighbors and other community members in Hailey, Idaho, not to discuss his... More »

Taliban Claim to Have 'Drunk' US Captive; 7 Soldiers Killed

Taliban also confirms capture of missing US soldier

(AP) - Seven American troops lost their lives in the stepped-up battle against the Taliban today, the deadliest day for US forces in Afghanistan in nearly a year. The Taliban also confirmed on its website that it is holding an American soldier thought to be in enemy hands. “Five days ago,... More »

Taliban Captures Missing US Soldier

(Newser) - Military officials believe that a US soldier who’s been missing since Tuesday has been captured by the Taliban, the Washington Post reports. The soldier appears to have walked off base into an unsecured area for reasons that remain unclear. Today, the Taliban’s Haqqani faction claimed to have captured... More »

Times Reporter Planned Escape for Weeks

Newspaper was prepared to pay $5M ransom to Taliban

(Newser) - David Rohde escaped from the Taliban only after weeks of planning, taking advantage of a length of rope to aid his descent down a 20-foot wall, the New York Times reports. The journalist and his Afghan colleague waited until a night when the city had electrical power, so the sound... More »

Al-Qaeda Murders British Hostage Held in Mali

(Newser) - A British hostage held in Mali has been killed by his al-Qaeda captors, the terror group announced on a website. Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the murder as an "appalling and barbaric act of terrorism," reports the BBC. Edwin Dyer was kidnapped in Niger in January with a... More »

FARC Captive Recalls Horror of Jungle Birth

Rojas gave birth in captivity, then had son taken away

(Newser) - Clara Rojas was one of many prisoners who endured the misery of the Colombian jungle during her 6 years as a hostage of the FARC. But in 2003 her ordeal became almost unbearable: She discovered she was pregnant by one of her captors. "I knew I could die,"... More »

Mom: Captured Pirate Was Duped

She says he may have needed money

(Newser) - He’s at the center of the first piracy trial the US has seen in more than a century, but Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse’s mother says he’s a victim. “He was brainwashed,” she tells the AP. “People who are older than him duped him.” Muse,... More »

Capt. Phillips Returns to Land

Arrives in Kenya where plane will take him home

(AP) - The US sea captain held hostage for five days by Somali pirates reached land today, with the destroyer that rescued him docking to the strains of "Sweet Home Alabama," hours after his crew reunited with their families back home. Capt. Richard Phillips arrived in Mombasa harbor aboard the... More »

Somali Pirates Vow Revenge

Defiant pirate captain threatens to target American shipping

(Newser) - Somali pirates have sworn to avenge their colleagues killed in the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips yesterday. A pirate commander told AFP that the men had been killed after agreeing to hand over Phillips without ransom, and vowed that American citizens traveling at sea in Somali waters—and further afield—... More »

Obama Plays Cool Hand, Wins in Pirate Crisis

This will boost faith in his military prowess

(Newser) - The daring US Navy rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from Somali pirates yesterday earned President Obama a key credit: He didn't screw it up, Michael Shear writes in the Washington Post. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter both suffered for their early missteps abroad, in Haiti and Iran, respectively.... More »

Navy Made 'Split-Second' Call to Fire on Pirates

(Newser) - Navy Seals opened fire on three Somali pirates today when a naval commander made a split-second decision that Capt. Richard Phillips' life was in imminent danger, the New York Times reports. Authorized by President Obama to use force, snipers shot two pirates who had stuck their heads out of the... More »

Captain Rescued, 3 Pirates Killed

Captain uninjured after brief firefight

(Newser) - The American sea captain held hostage by Somali pirates has been rescued after a brief firefight, with three of his captors killed and one in military custody, CNN reports. US Navy snipers saw a pirate with "an AK-47 leveled at the captain's back" and opened fire, a military... More »

Pirate Boat Drifts Toward Coast

Stalled talks to continue after a day

(Newser) - The lifeboat carrying American captain Richard Phillips has drifted within 20 miles of the Somali coast, where US military officials fear the pirates might escape with their hostage, reports Reuters. US warships continue to track the craft, as negotiations with the pirates over Phillips have been postponed by one day,... More »

Pirates Warn US Raid Would 'Create Disaster'

Somalis plan to transfer Capt. Phillips to bigger boat

(Newser) - Somali pirates holding an American captain hostage in a lifeboat are hoping to transfer him to another pirate ship in the area to thwart rescue efforts like the French commando raid that freed some hostages, but left one dead, along with two pirates, AFP reports. "We are getting information... More »

Hostage Captain 'a Regular Guy' and Ferocious Ball Player

'That swim—it didn’t surprise me at all': friend

(Newser) - The American captain being held by Somali pirates is a regular guy on land and a true professional at sea, his friends and family tell the New York Times.  Richard Phillips is placid and relaxed during his downtime with his wife and their college age-kids at his Vermont home,... More »

Pirates Want $2M Ransom, Threaten to Kill Captain

(Newser) - Somali pirates holding an American ship captain hostage say they want a $2 million ransom and have threatened to kill him, Reuters and the AP report. The ransom demand followed an escape attempt by Richard Phillips, who attempted to swim for safety early this morning. Reports conflict on what happened... More »

Showdown Looms: Pirate Ships Head to Hijacking Site

Previously-captured boats carry 54 international hostages

(Newser) - As bandits hold a US captain on a lifeboat in the Indian Ocean, their pirate colleagues are rushing to their aid with an international gallery of hostages, the AP reports. The bandits apparently fear being shot or arrested if they hand over the captain and are hoping to get support... More »

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