• Iran's new ambassador to the U.N. held Americans hostage in 1979

    Iran's new ambassador to the U.N. held Americans hostage in 1979

    Apr 02, 2014 08:17 PM EDT

    ... nomination. Hamid Aboutalebi was a member of a Muslim student group that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf isn't saying whether the U.S. would refuse to grant a visa to the ...

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    News Wrap: FBI Rescues Boy After Week-Long Hostage Standoff in Alabama

    Feb 04, 2013 05:00 AM EDT

    ... in after talks with the boy's captor, 65-year-old Jim Dykes, deteriorated. He was found dead after the operation. Dykes took the boy hostage last week after attacking a school bus and killing the driver. A suicide bomber in Iraq struck at an anti-al-Qaida militia today ...

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    News Wrap: Three Americans Among Casualties of Algeria Hostage Stand-Off

    Jan 21, 2013 05:00 AM EDT

    HARI SREENIVASAN: There was word today that three Americans died in the hostage standoff in Algeria that finally ended over the weekend. A U.S. official told the Associated Press that seven other Americans escaped. It started Wednesday when Islamist militants linked to al-Qaida attacked a natural gas complex ...

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    Accounting for Hostages in Algeria as Militant Conflict Intensifies in Mali

    Jan 18, 2013 11:02 PM EDT

    Although a large number of hostages have been released in Algeria, efforts continue to secure and account for remaining captives and the casualties, including some Americans. In neighboring Mali, Lindsey Hilsum of Independent Television News reports that conflicts between Islamist militants and the Malian government continue.

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    News Wrap: Somali Militants Execute French Hostage After Failed Rescue Attempt

    Jan 17, 2013 05:00 AM EDT

    In other news Thursday, a Somali militant group with links to al-Qaida called al-Shabab announced they had executed Denis Allex, a French national and intelligence agent who had been held by the militants since mid-2009. Meanwhile, another bomb attack in Iraq killed at least 26 people, the majority of which were Shiite pilgrims.

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    Algeria Raids Gas Plant to Free Hostages; Conflicting Reports on Fallout

    Jan 17, 2013 05:00 AM EDT

    ... took 41 foreign hostages, including seven Americans. Early today, the Algerian military stormed the sprawling site, as the militants were attempting to leave with the hostages. Hours later, the country's communications minister told Algerian radio: "An important number of hostages were freed and an important number of terrorists were ...

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    News Wrap: Somali Captors Threaten to Kill American Hostage if U.S. Interferes

    Jan 26, 2012 05:00 AM EDT

    HARI SREENIVASAN: Pirates in Somalia threatened today to kill an American hostage if the U.S. attempts to free him. The warning followed a Navy SEAL raid that rescued another American and a Dane who had been held since October. The latest U.S. captive was abducted on Saturday. His ...

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    For Somali Pirates, Killing 4 U.S. Hostages an Abnormal Action

    Feb 22, 2011 11:31 PM EDT

    Somali pirates killed four Americans who had been taken hostage aboard their yacht as U.S. forces followed the vessel. Gwen Ifill examines the problem of piracy off the Horn of Africa with Martin Murphy, a visiting fellow at the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies at King's College in London.

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    Will Presidential Nomination 'Hostage-Taking' Lead to Confirmation Reforms?

    Jan 04, 2011 05:00 PM EDT

    ... every administration. He blames an increase in both the number of positions needing confirmation and heightened polarization in the Senate. "Now you have a widespread hostage-taking phenomenon," Ornstein said. If you want to get the attention of the administration, you just look at all those people awaiting nomination and ...

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    Herta Muller Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

    Oct 08, 2009 04:16 PM EDT

    Romanian-born writer Herta Muller won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday, becoming only the 12th woman to win the prize in its 109-year history. The Swedish Academy described Muller as writer “who, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed ...