Hostage situations
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 1973, file photo, oil ministers of six Persian Gulf countries and representatives of western nations meet in Vienna, Austria, to negotiate price boosts sought by oil producers. Facing each other, are from left to right, Dr. Jamshid Amouzegar, then Iran Finance Minister, then Saudi Oil Minister Ahmed Zaki Yanani. Yamani, a long-serving oil minister in Saudi Arabia who led the kingdom through the 1973 oil crisis, the nationalization its state energy company and later found himself kidnapped by the assassin Carlos the Jackal, died Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021, in London. He was 90. (AP Photo, File)
Long-serving Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani dies at 90

By Jon Gambrell Feb. 23, 2021 03:43 AM EST

Hamas police officers guard a truck containing a shipment of Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that it dispatched the first shipment of coronavirus vaccines to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, two days after accusing Israel of preventing it from sending the doses amid objections from some Israeli lawmakers. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
After delay, Israel allows vaccines into Hamas-run Gaza

By Fares Akram And Joseph Krauss Feb. 17, 2021 04:53 AM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2020 file photo, a Palestinian paramedic wearing a full protective suit, takes a nasal swab to test for COVID-19 from a man, at a mosque in Gaza City. The Palestinian Authority said Monday, Feb. 15, 2021 that Israel was preventing it from sending coronavirus vaccines to the Gaza Strip that were intended for front-line medical workers in the territory controlled by the Islamic militant group Hamas. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File)
Palestinians say Israel blocks shipment of vaccines to Gaza

By Joseph Krauss Feb. 15, 2021 03:17 PM EST

FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2018 file photo released by the Union for the Republic and Democracy party shows then opposition Presidential candidate Soumaila Cisse casting his ballot during the presidential second round election in Niafunke, Mali. Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cissé, who was held hostage for six months by jihadists and considered a leading contender for 2022 elections, has died in Paris, his family said Friday. (Boubacar Sada Sissoko/Union for the Republic and Democracy via AP, File)
Mali opposition leader Cissé dies after contracting COVID-19

By Baba Ahmed Dec. 25, 2020 08:20 AM EST

New York police officers move in on the scene of a shooting at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, in New York. A man was shot by police after shots rang out at the end of a Christmas choral concert on the steps of the Manhattan cathedral Sunday afternoon. It's unclear if the gunman was killed or if any others were injured. The shooting happened just before 4 p.m. at the church which is the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and seat of its bishop. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
NYC cathedral gunman's note says he planned to take hostages

By Michael R. Sisak Dec. 16, 2020 04:35 PM EST

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2020 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Damascus, Syria. The Trump Administration imposed sanctions Wednesday, Sept. 30, on entities and individuals in Syria as part of Washington’s pressure campaign against Assad and his inner circle. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Trump envoy traveled to Syria for talks on missing Americans

By Sarah El Deeb And Ben Fox Oct. 19, 2020 05:22 PM EDT

In this photo provided by the Alexandria Sheriff's Office is Alexanda Kotey who is in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, in Alexandria, Va. Two Islamic State militants from Britain, El Shafee Elsheikh and Kotey, were brought to the U.S. on Wednesday to face charges in a gruesome campaign of torture, beheadings and other acts of violence against four Americans and others captured and held hostage in Syria, the Justice Department said. They made their first appearance on Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria, Va. (Alexandria Sheriff's Office via AP)
Brits accused in beheading of hostages plead not guilty

By Matthew Barakat Oct. 09, 2020 04:36 PM EDT

FILE - This March 19, 2020, file photo provided courtesy of the White family, shows U.S. Navy veteran Michael White in Mashhad, Iran. White, a Navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years, has been released and is on his way home as part of an unusual agreement to free an Iranian-American physician who was prosecuted in the United States, U.S. officials said Thursday, June 4. (Courtesy of the White Family via AP)
Detained US Navy veteran freed by Iran as part of deal

By Matthew Lee And Eric Tucker Jun. 04, 2020 05:06 PM EDT

FILE - This March 19, 2020, file photo provided courtesy of the White family, shows U.S. Navy veteran Michael White in Mashhad, Iran. White, a Navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years, has been released and is on his way home as part of an unusual agreement to free an Iranian-American physician who was prosecuted in the United States, U.S. officials said Thursday, June 4. (Courtesy of the White Family via AP)
Detained US Navy veteran freed by Iran as part of deal

By Matthew Lee And Eric Tucker Jun. 04, 2020 11:18 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 9, 2020, file photo, Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad attends the inauguration ceremony for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Khalilzad said May 7 that he called for the release of Mark R. Frerichs, ab American citizen captured by Taliban-linked militants in discussions with Taliban leadership as continued violence threatens to scuttle a peace deal to end America’s longest-running war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
Afghanistan envoy calls for American contractor release

By James Laporta May. 07, 2020 10:57 PM EDT

Daniel Hsu, a Chinese American, poses for a portrait in the apartment he has been renting in Shanghai, China on Monday, April 13, 2020. Hsu, a U.S. citizen, has not been convicted of any crime in China, yet he was detained for six months in solitary confinement under conditions that could qualify as torture under international conventions. Authorities from eastern Anhui province placed exit bans on Hsu and his wife, Jodie Chen, blocking them from returning home to suburban Seattle in August 2017 and effectively orphaning their 16-year-old daughter in America. (AP Photo)
US couple's nightmare: Held in China, away from daughter

By Erika Kinetz May. 05, 2020 12:03 AM EDT

Military police fly over the Puraquequara prison as inmates stand on a water tower protesting against bad conditions and restrictions on family visits put in place to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, in Manaus, Brazil, Saturday, May 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)
Inmates riot at Brazil prison over no visits amid pandemic

By Diane Jeantet May. 02, 2020 04:37 PM EDT

Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Illinois, poses in Iraq in this undated photo obtained from Twitter that he would include with his resume when job hunting. Frerichs was abducted in Afghanistan in January 2020. Early efforts to locate him have been shrouded in mystery and his disappearance has been the subject of minimal public discussion by the U.S. government. The Associated Press has learned that in the days following Frerichs’ capture, Navy commandos raided a village and detained suspected members of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network while the U.S. intelligence community tried to track the cellphones of Frerich and his captors. (Twitter via AP)
SEALs tried to locate US citizen taken by Afghan militants

By James Laporta And Eric Tucker Apr. 30, 2020 12:07 AM EDT