Judge orders plan for releasing more red wolves into wild

A judge has ordered the federal government to come up with a plan to release more endangered red wolves from breeding programs to bolster the dwindling wild population. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle signed an order Thursday directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to draft a plan by March 1 for...

Prosecutor: Capitol rioter aimed 'to take hostages'

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A retired Air Force officer who was part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week carried plastic zip-tie handcuffs because he intended “to take hostages,” a prosecutor said in a Texas court on Thursday. “He means to take hostages. He means to...

Iran government spokesman, asked about seized tanker, calls South Korea 'hostage taker' over frozen $7 billion in assets

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran government spokesman, asked about seized tanker, calls South Korea 'hostage taker' over frozen $7 billion in assets.

Mali opposition leader Cissé dies after contracting COVID-19

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Soumaila Cissé, Mali's main opposition leader who was held hostage for six months earlier this year by jihadis and was considered a leading contender in the 2022 presidential election, has died in Paris. He was 71. Cissé died after contracting COVID-19, his eldest son Bocar...

Gunman kills 3 French police in domestic abuse standoff

PARIS (AP) — A heavily armed gunman in southern France killed three police officers responding to a domestic violence call at his house and then fled, and he was found dead nearby Wednesday after an apparent suicide, the regional prosecutor said. The unusual killing of three on-duty officers prompted a...

Amid freed Nigeria schoolboys' joyful reunions, fear lingers

KANKARA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's freed schoolboys have reunited with their joyful parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen allied with jihadist rebels in the country’s northwest. Relieved parents hugged their sons tightly on Saturday in Kankara, where more than 340 boys were...

NYC cathedral gunman's note says he planned to take hostages

NEW YORK (AP) — The man killed by police Sunday after he opened fire on the steps of a landmark New York City cathedral had a note in his pocket that said he had planned to take hostages and use them as leverage to get U.S. aid for Latin America, a law enforcement official said Wednesday. Luis Vasquez, 52,...

Azerbaijan, Armenia exchange prisoners as part of peace deal

MOSCOW (AP) — Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged prisoners Monday, a move stipulated in the peace deal between the two ex-Soviet nations that ended recent fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani authorities said an all-for-all exchange of prisoners and hostages have been...

Charging the 'Beatles': Inside the case against IS militants

WASHINGTON (AP) — As two Islamic State militants faced a judge in Virginia last month, Diane Foley listened from home through a muffled phone connection and strained to make out the voices of the men prosecutors say kidnapped her son before he was murdered. Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh stand...