hostage

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Missing US Reporter Surfaces in Video

Presumed hostage Austin Tice marched up hill by masked crew

(Newser) - A US journalist missing for close to two months in Syria has appeared in a video apparently showing him being held hostage by a gang of masked gunmen. The 47-second clip, posted on YouTube, opens with shaky footage of a convoy of three vehicles in mountain terrain, then cuts to...

Pittsburgh Hostage-Taker Surrenders to Cops

Suspect Klein Michael Thaxton posted about the incident on Facebook

(Newser) - An armed suicidal man who held a businessman hostage inside a downtown Pittsburgh office building for more than five hours today, posting Facebook updates during the standoff, surrendered to authorities without incident, police said. Klein Michael Thaxton, 22, surrendered just before 2pm, and the man he took hostage was unhurt,...

Al-Qaeda Releases Video of US Hostage

'My life is in your hands,' Warren Weinstein tells Obama

(Newser) - An American citizen kidnapped from his home in Pakistan last August appeals to President Obama in a video released by al-Qaeda yesterday. Warren Weinstein, 70, tells Obama he will be killed unless the president agrees to the group's demands, the AP reports. "My life is in your hands,...

London Workers Held Hostage in Bomb Threat

Man arrested in apparent suicide bombing attempt

(Newser) - A man has been arrested in an apparent hostage situation in central London that prompted an evacuation and the closing of a major thoroughfare. Police were called to Tottenham Court Road after office equipment was hurled from the fifth floor of an office building, the BBC reports. A man carrying...

Colombian Rebels Free Last Military Hostages, But...

...FARC is believed to still have as many as 700 civilian hostages

(Newser) - Colombia's FARC rebel group has freed what it says are its last 10 military and police captives, all of whom had been held in jungle camps for at least 12 years. The four soldiers and six policemen were handed over to a humanitarian mission by the Marxist rebels. They...

Al-Sadr Militia Releases US Hostage Held in Iraq

Randy Michaels appears on TV in military uniform

(Newser) - An Iraqi militia linked to Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr released a former US soldier today after keeping him prisoner for nine months, Reuters reports. Identified as Randy Michaels, the American appeared on television in a US military uniform without insignia, alongside two lawmakers from al-Sadr's movement. Speaking briefly...

Calif. Bank Hostage Freed After Shootout

Suspect, 3 officers injured

(Newser) - A woman taken hostage by a bank robber in California escaped unharmed after a shootout that injured the robber and three SWAT team members. During an hours-long standoff at the Orange County bank, the suspect freed six other employees, but refused to let the female bank manager leave. Bullets started...

3 Dead in Florida Hostage Standoff

Man appears to have killed 9-year-old son

(Newser) - Police are still sorting out what happened at a Florida RV park last night, after a standoff that left three people dead and two others badly hurt. Police got a call about a shooting at the park just before 6:30pm, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel . When they arrived,...

12-Hour Aussie Standoff Ends, Girl Safe

Police forced their way into law office after negotiations faltered

(Newser) - A 12-hour standoff has ended in Australia after police forced their way into the Sydney law office where a man, who claimed he had a bomb in his backpack, was holding his daughter hostage . The move was made after negotiations began to break down, say police. The 12-year-old girl has...

'Backpack Bomber' Has Daughter in Aussie Standoff

He's holed up in law offices near family court

(Newser) - A ranting Australian claiming to be armed with a backpack bomb is holding his daughter hostage in law offices near a courthouse in a Sydney suburb. Workers in nearby offices have been evacuated, and police and rescue workers are standing by as officials negotiate with him. The unidentified man earlier...

Utah Gunman Updated Facebook During Standoff

Jason Valdez added dozen new friends during 16-hour ordeal

(Newser) - A Utah man spent 16 hours holding a woman hostage in a motel room over the weekend—and made at least a dozen new Facebook friends at the same time. Jason Valdez, 36, kept his Facebook page updated throughout the armed standoff with police, reports the New York Daily News...

Obama Must Call GOP's 'Bluff' on Debt Ceiling

Can't let hostage-holding House run the country: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - Look out, President Obama: House Republicans have created another “hostage situation.” This time, they’re holding the debt ceiling for a ransom of big spending cuts, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . The Republican Party doesn't control the White House or the Senate, so you...

NC Cops Kill Teen Bank Robber in Hostage Drama

Student shot as he exits bank with woman

(Newser) - A three-hour standoff at North Carolina bank ended when police shot a teenage bank robber dead. The robber, a 19-year-old high school student, at one point held seven hostages inside the suburban Raleigh bank, the Raleigh Telegram reports. He released five hostages after police arrived. As he exited the bank...

Guard Who Took Down Gunman: 'I'm No Hero'

Mike Jones says he'd been terrified he let school board down

(Newser) - When distraught ex-con Clay Duke took a school board meeting hostage on Tuesday, it was security guard Mike Jones who saved the day, shooting and wounding Duke, who then killed himself. But Jones says he was only doing his job. “I’m not a hero folks,” he said...

School Board Hostage-Taking Caught on Video

Fla. board member fought back against gunman Clay Duke

(Newser) - If there was a prize for America's bravest school board member, Ginger Littleton would be a shoo-in. Video of yesterday's hostage-taking incident at a Florida school board meeting shows that after gunman Clay Duke ordered everybody apart from six men to leave the room, Littleton returned to the room and...

Hostage: Teen Gunman Didn't Want to Hurt Us

Students kept him calm with talk of hunting, fishing, says witness

(Newser) - A teenage gunman who held 23 Wisconsin high school classmates and their female teacher hostage before shooting himself didn't seem to want to hurt anyone, said a witness. The 15-year-old shooter appeared depressed, and classmates tried to keep him calm by talking to him about hunting and fishing, hostage Zach...

Navy SEAL Faces Discipline Over Botched Hostage Raid

He didn't tell superiors he used grenade in Linda Norgrove mission

(Newser) - A member of the Navy SEALs faces likely discipline in the botched raid to free a British hostage in Afghanistan, the Guardian reports. He apparently threw the grenade that killed Linda Norgrove and failed to immediately inform his superiors that he used the device. The details emerged as a joint...

Hostage Tricks Captors Into Twitter Access

He was able to let family, friends know he was still alive

(Newser) - A Japanese journalist held captive 5 months in Afghanistan used Twitter to let loved ones know he was alive—all because his captors weren't tech savvy. Kosuke Tsuneoka sent the tweets while teaching a low-ranking captor how to use his new cell phone, reports PC World. In explaining the wonders...

Ex-Soldier Takes Hostages at Army Hospital

Demands treatment for behavioral problems

(Newser) - A former Army soldier demanding behavioral treatment at a Georgia military hospital took three workers hostage at gunpoint today before authorities persuaded him to surrender peacefully. No one was hurt and no shots were fired in the short standoff at Winn Army Community Hospital on Fort Stewart, according to a...

Gunman Takes Hostages in Discovery Channel HQ

He has history of trouble with company

(Newser) - A gunman who had what police described as "concerns" with the Discovery Channel networks is holding a "small number" of hostages in the company's suburban Washington headquarters. Police are in negotiations with the man, who entered the building in Silver Spring, Md., wearing what appeared to be explosive...

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