ransom

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America Has a New Ransom Policy

President outlines new policies for hostage situations

(Newser) - As expected , President Obama said today that the US government had let down the families of Americans held hostage by terrorists, and he outlined new policies that could make it easier for those families to pay ransom to free their loved ones. "These families have already suffered enough...

US: We Won't Prosecute Families for Paying Ransom

Review of policy comes after criticism from relatives of slain ISIS captives

(Newser) - The Obama administration will tell families of Americans held by terror groups that they can communicate with captors and even pay ransom without fear of prosecution—part of a broad review of US hostage guidelines that will be released tomorrow. President Obama ordered the review last fall after the deaths...

US to Back Off Threat to Hostage Families Who Pay Ransom

Won't face jail time; James Foley's mom says gov't 'trying to make it right'

(Newser) - In the wake of James Foley's murder in the Syrian desert, his grief-stricken mother very publicly berated the American government for not doing all it could to free him—and for threatening the Foleys "very clearly three times that it was illegal for us to try to ransom...

Bay Area Woman Kidnapped for Ransom

Denise Huskins abducted from boyfriend's home

(Newser) - The details of Denise Huskins' kidnapping are sketchy, but scary: At some point between midnight and 5am Monday, boyfriend Aaron Quinn says he saw her being "forcibly taken against her will" from a Vallejo, Calif., home. He was given a ransom demand; it's not clear when or how...

In a Year, ISIS Made $35M in Ransom Cash

Or maybe more ...

(Newser) - ISIS has received between $35 million and $45 million in ransom payments in the past year, a UN expert monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda said yesterday. Kidnapping for ransom "continues to grow," per Yotsna Lalji, who offered this for comparison: An estimated $120 million in ransom was paid to...

35K Pounds of Raw Chicken Found Rotting in Truck

Driver allegedly demanded ransom

(Newser) - Getting rid of a little rotting raw chicken: not a big deal. Getting rid of a 53-foot trailer filled with more than 35,000 pounds of rotting raw chicken: a pretty big deal. Missoula County officials are finding that out after a stolen truck was discovered Tuesday at a Wye...

Pirates Free American Held for 2 Years

Journalist Michael Scott Moore was kidnapped while researching piracy

(Newser) - A 45-year-old journalist who was kidnapped by Somali pirates more than two years ago has been freed, according to his family and a Somali official cited by CNN . Michael Scott Moore, who holds both US and German citizenship and was in Somalia researching a book on piracy, is said by...

ISIS Holding American Woman, 26

Islamic State demands $7M ransom

(Newser) - The same militants who beheaded James Foley are holding a 26-year-old American woman hostage and demanding $6.6 million for her freedom, reports ABC News . The woman has not been identified at the request of her family and US officials, reports AP . She is identified only as a humanitarian relief...

US: We Asked Qatar Not to Pay Ransom for Journalist

Curtis released on 'humanitarian basis,' father says

(Newser) - American officials say they didn't pay a penny to secure the release of kidnapped journalist Peter Theo Curtis —and they asked Qatar not to offer money to the Nusra Front militants holding him. A White House spokesman says the US government put the Curtis family in touch with...

Why We Shouldn't Pay Ransom for Journalists

It would boost the risk for others: Thomas E. Ricks

(Newser) - Word is that a multimillion-dollar ransom might have saved James Foley, but the US doesn't fulfill such demands—and it's right not to, writes a journalist who's seen dangerous reporting firsthand. While it's a tragedy that last year, almost 50 journalists were reported killed in the...

How Europe Nations Fund Half of al-Qaeda&#39;s Budget
How Europe Nations Fund Half of al-Qaeda's Budget
investigation
Jul 30, 2014 5:32 PM CDT

How Europe Nations Fund Half of al-Qaeda's Budget

By paying ransoms after kidnappings: New York Times investigation

(Newser) - Brit Edwin Dyer was kidnapped in 2009 by al-Qaeda in North Africa, along with a German and a Swiss couple. Like the US, Britain doesn’t pay ransoms and didn’t in this case—and Dyer was killed. But his fellow captives were released after their governments paid al-Qaeda a...

Cops: Man Holds Self for Ransom, Unsuccessfully

He's arrested after mom doesn't buy it

(Newser) - Maybe the only thing worse than faking your own kidnapping and calling your mom for a ransom is discovering that your mom won't pay. Police in Knox County, Tennessee, say 25-year-old Zachery Lodgson texted his mom to say that drug dealers were going to kill him if she didn'...

World Paid Terrorists $105M in Ransoms in 3.5 Years

And UN wants the payments to stop

(Newser) - In the past three and a half years, terror groups tied to al-Qaeda have raked in an estimated $105 million via ransom, Britain's ambassador to the UN says—and the UN Security Council wants those payments to end. Though countries are already legally banned from making such payments, it'...

Kidnappers Demand $10K Ransom for 14-Year-Old Girl

Ayvani Hope Perez was taken from Georgia home yesterday

(Newser) - The family of an abducted 14-year-old Georgia girl has received a ransom demand from her kidnappers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Ayvani Hope Perez's family is trying to raise the $10,000 demanded by the two men who originally broke into their home early yesterday looking for jewelry and money....

Today&#39;s G8 Topic: Kidnapping
 Today's G8 Topic: Kidnapping 
Jun 18, 2013 7:58 AM CDT

Today's G8 Topic: Kidnapping

Also: Syria, taxes

(Newser) - Terrorist ransoms, globe-trotting companies, huge sums of money. What might sound like the makings of a good action film is actually what's on the docket at the final day of the G8 summit today. A primer on what you should know:
  • Kidnapping: David Cameron is looking for the attending
...

Missing Developer Found With 'Thief' Carved on Face

Kevin McGeever says he can't remember what happened

(Newser) - An Irish millionaire who vanished eight months ago has turned up disheveled on a country road saying kidnappers held him for ransom, the Guardian reports. Barefoot with the word "Thief" carved in his forehead, 68-year-old Kevin McGeever told Irish police that he couldn't remember what had happened or...

Aargh. The End of Somalia's Pirate Days?

Pirates "live like refugees" due to global military efforts

(Newser) - It's been anything but smooth sailing for Somali pirates lately, as the heady days of hijacking and plunder dry up at the hands of international military efforts and simple on-board security enhancements, reports the AP . The flow of whiskey has ebbed and the hookers have gone home in villages...

Osama Turned to Kidnapping to Raise Cash

Al-Qaeda was increasingly cut off from funding sources

(Newser) - Even terrorists have to pay the bills, and files taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad show that al-Qaeda was increasingly cash-poor and turning to kidnapping and ransom as a way to raise some revenue. The shift shows that a crackdown on al-Qaeda's funding has proven financially...

Freed Yacht Couple Opens Up About Traumatic Year

Retired Brits spent year held captive by Somali thugs

(Newser) - The retired British couple who was released yesterday after a year held hostage by pirates who seized them as they sailed the ocean in their yacht opened up about their ordeal, saying one of their most difficult parts was being severely beaten when they refused to be separated during their...

Thieves Demand Ransom for Cyprus President's Corpse

Body discovered dumped at another cemetery

(Newser) - The mystery behind the bodysnatching of Cyprus' former president seems to have been solved: The island nation's justice minister today ruled out a political motive, revealing that a ransom demand had been made. He said Tassos Papadopoulos' family had received a demand for ransom for the return of the body,...

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