Twenty eight Indian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates have been released. The sailors were on board two ships Merchant Tanker Royal Grace and Merchant Tanker Smyrni and 17 were on board the MT Royal Grace and 11 were on board the MT Smyrni. ...
03:12 PM, Mar 09, 2013
'Argo' won the Oscar for the Best Picture at the Academy Awards ceremony. The film documents the covert CIA operation that rescued six Americans during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Here are the real embassy workers who inspired the movie. ...
04:30 PM, Feb 27, 2013
The death toll from the terrorist siege at a natural gas plant in the Sahara climbed past 80 on Sunday as Algerian forces searching the refinery for explosives found dozens more bodies, many so badly disfigured it was unclear whether they were hostages or militants, a security official said. ...
10:55 AM, Jan 21, 2013
A veteran Islamist fighter claimed responsibility on behalf of al Qaeda for the Algerian hostage crisis, a regional website reported on Sunday, tying the bloody desert siege to France's intervention across the Sahara in Mali. ...
01:21 AM, Jan 21, 2013
Condemning the terrorist attack in Algeria, US President Barack Obama has blamed terrorists for the tragedy and said attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in North Africa. ...
10:41 AM, Jan 20, 2013
In a bloody finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert on Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said. ...
09:35 AM, Jan 20, 2013
Condemning the terrorist attack in Algeria, US President Barack Obama has blamed terrorists for the tragedy and said attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in North Africa. ...
08:46 AM, Jan 20, 2013
Bhubaneswar: Abducted police officer Krupa Ram Majhi has been shot dead by suspected Naxals in Nuapada in Odisha. The police recovered Majhi's body from Nuapada. A team of 10 Maoists had abducted the ASI and had let off the constable accompanying him on Tuesday. ASI Krupa Ram Majhi of the Dharambandha Police Station was abducted by suspected Naxals in Nuapada on Tuesday in retaliation to a combing operation that was...
04:02 PM, May 08, 2012
Bhubaneswar: A police official has been abducted by suspected Naxals in Odisha. ASI Krupa Ram Majhi of the Dharambandha Police Station has been abducted by suspected Naxals in Nuapada. Reports say 10 Naxals abducted the ASI and let off the constable accompanying him. This is the third hostage crisis in Odisha in the past two months. Earlier BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka was released on April 26 after being in the...
02:20 PM, May 08, 2012
Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik that his party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is unlikely to support Congress's candidate for the Presidential poll. ...
09:05 PM, May 04, 2012
Chintalnar: Sukma District collector Alex Paul Menon has been freed by Naxals after 12 days in captivity. But it is still not clear as to what deal was struck between the the Chhattisgarh government and the Naxals for his release. Menon looked tired as he spoke to the media, which had been waiting for hours at Chintalnar on Thursday. "I thank all the people, the government, my family and friends...
11:25 PM, May 03, 2012
Chintalnar: The District Collector of Sukma, Alex Paul Menon, was released after 12 days on Thursday evening amid confusion and fading light. Alex Paul Menon was accompanied by the Naxal-appointed mediator. BD Sharma. He was calm and composed as he walked up to speak to the media. The District Collector thanked everyone who stood by him, from the government to his family and the mediators. Crucially he also said that...
10:47 PM, May 03, 2012
New Delhi: Alex Paul Menon is a 2006 batch IAS officer. Menon, who was abducted on April 21 by the Maoists while attending a villagers' meet, was released on May 3. Menon is also a fan of superstar Rajinikanth. Menon is the first collector to have been abducted by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh. The 32-year-old is an active blogger and Twitter user. In his last tweet before abduction, Menon said,...
04:05 PM, May 03, 2012
Panama: A Panama-flagged merchant oil tanker, the BW Rhine, has been hijacked. Indian sailors are among the 21-member crew that has been taken hostage. The incident occurred off the east coast of Africa on April 28. The exact number of Indians on board is, however, not known as of now. Sources in the DG Shipping have called it a looting incident on the high seas. They are monitoring the situation....
09:56 AM, May 03, 2012
Sukma: Abducted Sukma collector and IAS officer Alex Paul Menon will be released on May 3, the Maoists told BBC on Tuesday. The Maoists said Menon will be released in front of the public in Tadhmetha. Menon has been in the custody of the Maoists for the past ten days. Reacting to the reports N Brajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary at the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's Office, said, "We are happy to...
10:18 PM, May 01, 2012
New Delhi: Faced with frequent incidents of abduction, the Centre on Monday said if the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) comes into existence, it would help in the long run to deal with hostage situations in a better way. Home Minister P Chidambaram said he was not sure whether NCTC would come up or not and if it comes up, then the proposed anti-terror body should be allowed to...
05:44 PM, Apr 30, 2012
Raipur: The hostage crisis in Chhattisgarh entered its ninth day on Monday as Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon continued to remain in the captivity of the Naxals. Meanwhile, after days of drama over the name of the mediators, the two Naxal-appointed interlocutors on Sunday returned after holding the first round of talks with the Maoists. Following the talks, the mediators said that the abducted IAS officer, who is an...
08:01 AM, Apr 30, 2012
New Delhi: It's been eight days since Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon was taken hostage by the Naxals. Two Naxal-appointed interloctors reached the rebel hideout, deep inside the Bastar forests for another round of talks but failed to achieve any breakthrough to secure Menon's release. The Naxals want 17 jailed cadres to be freed in exchange for Menon. Chief Minister Raman Singh has said their demands will be considered only...
06:32 AM, Apr 29, 2012
New Delhi: Mediators former IAS officer and social activist BD Sharma and Professor Hargopal left for Chintalnar in Chhattisgarh on Saturday morning to meet the Maoist abductors of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon. It has been a week since the Menon was abducted by the Naxals. The mediators have had several rounds of talks in two days but the deadlock continues. The Naxals have refused to extend the deadline...
08:59 AM, Apr 28, 2012
London: Police say they've arrested the suspect at the centre of a three-hour siege which shut down part a busy part of central London. The capital's Metropolitan Police say the 49-year-old man is now in police custody and that searches of the building are ongoing. One eyewitness claimed on Friday that the man burst into the office of a training company saying he was ready to blow himself up. Earlier,...
08:03 PM, Apr 27, 2012
