Ukraine and Russian Separatists Swap Prisoners
Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine began a prisoner exchange Thursday, according to the Ukrainian president’s office and separatists.
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hostages
US Ratchets Up Tehran Tensions With New Round of Sanctions
Spurning calls to de-escalate tensions as Iran’s death toll from Covid-19 rises daily, the U.S. leveled sanctions Thursday against at least 12 people and five companies linked to the country’s Revolutionary Guard.
Read moreUS Hostage in Iranian Custody Believed Dead
Bob Levinson, the longest-held captive in U.S. history and former intelligence community member, died in Iranian custody, his family and the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
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Family of Longest-Held US Captive Wins $1.5 Billion Lawsuit
Thirteen years to date since the longest held captive in U.S. history, Bob Levinson, disappeared, a federal judge on Monday ruled the former FBI agent’s family is entitled to damages in a lawsuit seeking $1.5 billion from Iran.
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Assassination Complicates Situation for US Hostages
The killing of a top Iranian general has ratcheted up the anxiety of families of Americans held in Iran, one month after the release of a New Jersey student had given them hope.
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Family of Missing Ex-FBI Agent Testifies in Case Against Iran
The seven children and wife of the longest-held American hostage in Iran closed out a two-day hearing in D.C. federal court Thursday with agonized testimony on the nightmare they fell into back in 2007 when former FBI agent Bob Levinson disappeared.
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Iran Ordered to Pay $179 Million to Washington Post Journalist
A federal judge on Friday ordered Iran to pay $179 million in damages to Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, who spent 544 days in an Iranian prison after being falsely accused of being an American spy.
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Parents of Late US Hostage Chase North Korean Assets
The parents of former U.S. hostage Otto Warmbier, who died after being released from North Korea in a coma in 2017, are seeking to find and shut down illicit North Korean business assets around the world, to hold its government accountable for human rights abuses.
Read moreTaliban Free Two Western Hostages in Prisoner Swap
The Taliban released two Western hostages in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, handing them over to U.S. forces more than three years after they were abducted in Kabul, insurgent sources and police said.
Read moreIran Hit With New Sanctions 40 Years After Hostage Crisis
The Trump administration announced new sanctions Monday on the 40th anniversary of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, which gripped the nation as 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days during a student takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Read moreNorth Korea
A federal judge granted partial summary judgment to 82 crew members of the USS Pueblo captured by North Korea in international waters in 1968, after which they were held hostage under inhuman conditions for almost a year; the actions constituted state-sponsored terrorism.
Read morePush to Defeat IS in Syria Slowed by Concern for Hostages
U.S.-backed Syrian forces say their push to defeat the Islamic State group in its last, tiny bastion in Syria has been slowed by the presence of civilians and scores of prisoners held by the extremists.
Read moreUS Family Says Saudis Tortured Dual Citizen
The family of a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for more than a year say he has been tortured and is on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
Read morePakistan Pledges to Release Captive Indian Fighter Pilot
Pakistan’s prime minister pledged on Thursday his country would release a captured Indian fighter pilot, a move that could help defuse the most serious confrontation in two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Read moreMan Who Took Women Hostage at UPS Facility Is Dead
An armed man who entered a UPS processing facility Monday morning and held two women hostage for several hours was shot and killed by police as he left the building with the women, authorities said.
Read moreParis Hostages Freed, Suspect Arrested After 4 Hours
A four-hour hostage standoff in central Paris ended with police moving in, arresting the suspect and freeing those held, France’s interior minister announced late Tuesday.
Read moreFrench Police Storm Supermarket, Kill Hostage-Taker; 3 Dead
An armed man took hostages in a supermarket in southern France on Friday, killing two and injuring about a dozen others, police said. He had earlier opened fire on officers nearby.
Read moreOfficials Tight-Lipped in Attack on California Veterans Home
Authorities in Northern California have so far been tight-lipped about why a former Army rifleman may have killed three women after a daylong siege at a veterans home in Napa County wine country.
Read moreGunman Takes Hostages at California Veterans Home
A gunman took at least three people hostage at a large veterans home in California on Friday and police locked down the sprawling grounds, Napa County Fire Capt. Chase Beckman said.
Read moreEx-Hostage Boyle Charged With Sex Assault, Confinement
Canadian Joshua Boyle, his American wife and their children endured a long captivity in Afghanistan before they were rescued last fall and returned to Canada. Now he’s facing 15 charges including sexual assault, forcible confinement and administering a noxious drug.
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