• 3 dead, dozen injured in hostage situation in southern France

    3 dead, dozen injured in hostage situation in southern France

    Mar 23, 2018 12:50 PM EDT

    TREBES, France — An armed man went on rampage Friday in southern France, carjacking a vehicle, shooting at police and taking hostages in an hours-long standoff at a supermarket. He killed three people and wounded others before being shot to death when French police stormed the market, authorities said. Among ...

  • Ex-hostage wants British Islamic State kidnappers put on trial in UK

    Ex-hostage wants British Islamic State kidnappers put on trial in UK

    Feb 09, 2018 04:20 PM EDT

    LONDON — Former Islamic State hostages and families of the group's victims are urging Britain and the United States to put two recently captured extremists on trial, arguing that denying them justice will fuel the hatred and violence they supported. French journalist Nicolas Henin, who was held by the men ...

  • Despite advances under Obama, lack of transparency can hinder hostage families

    Despite advances under Obama, lack of transparency can hinder hostage families

    May 05, 2017 06:42 PM EDT

    ... research. The kidnappings include those perpetrated by criminal gangs looking to extort money, in addition to the high-profile terrorist cases. Rachel Briggs, who started Hostage UK in 2004 and, more recently, Hostage US to support the families of hostages, was a university student when her British uncle was kidnapped ...

  • Libyan hijackers release hostages and surrender peacefully in Malta

    Libyan hijackers release hostages and surrender peacefully in Malta

    Dec 23, 2016 09:13 PM EDT

    Two Libyan hijackers surrendered to authorities after threatening to use hand grenades to blow up a plane they diverted from Libya to Malta.

  • Payment to Iran was used as ‘leverage’ for hostage release, admits State Department

    Payment to Iran was used as ‘leverage’ for hostage release, admits State Department

    Aug 19, 2016 11:30 PM EDT

    In January, Iran released American hostages in a development coinciding with a U.S. payout of $400 million -- money that had been owed for decades. The Obama administration previously denied a connection between the two events, but on Friday, the State Department modified its response, saying the money was used as “leverage.” Judy Woodruff talks...

  • U.S.-backed forces liberate key city from ISIS, freeing 2,000 hostages

    U.S.-backed forces liberate key city from ISIS, freeing 2,000 hostages

    Aug 13, 2016 03:35 PM EDT

    U.S.-backed rebel forces have captured the city of Manbij from the Islamic State, whose grip on the city lasted two years but faltered after months of fighting.

  • Cameroon, Nigeria join forces to free Boko Haram hostages

    Cameroon, Nigeria join forces to free Boko Haram hostages

    Mar 01, 2016 12:33 AM EDT

    ... GWEN IFILL: Finally, Nick, for many Americans, the last thing they heard about this question of Boko Haram's strength in Nigeria has centered around hostage-taking, specifically about those Chibok girls. Where does this stand now? We keep hearing that thousands of hostages have been released, but not so ...

  • Why it took 36 years to compensate Iran hostage victims

    Why it took 36 years to compensate Iran hostage victims

    Dec 25, 2015 01:30 AM EDT

    ... GWEN IFILL: The Iran hostage crisis was one of the defining moments of the 1970s, and it fractured a relationship between two nations that has never healed. Now, 36 years after it began, the former hostages are finally getting compensation. It was November 4, 1979. The U.S. Embassy ...

  • Mother of slain journalist wants U.S. to review hostage policy

    Mother of slain journalist wants U.S. to review hostage policy

    Nov 17, 2015 08:20 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON — The mother of American journalist James Foley, who was publicly beheaded in August 2014 by the Islamic State, says her family felt abandoned by the American government. She wants to see a review of the U.S. hostage policy. Testifying at a House hearing, Diane Foley of Rochester, New ...

  • Pentagon: 1 U.S. service member killed in Iraq hostage rescue

    Pentagon: 1 U.S. service member killed in Iraq hostage rescue

    Oct 22, 2015 03:54 PM EDT

    ... statement: Early today in Iraq, at the request of the Kurdistan Regional Government, U.S. Special Operations Forces supported an Iraqi Peshmerga operation to rescue hostages at an ISIL prison near Hawijah, Iraq. This operation was deliberately planned and launched after receiving information that the hostages faced imminent mass execution ...