Venezuela robbers free most hostages, speed off
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ALTAGRACIA DE ORITUCO, Venezuela  - Armed Venezuelan bank robbers sped away from a police siege on Tuesday in an ambulance with a handful of hostages after a deal that freed dozens of other captives in a two-day standoff.
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BESLAN, Russia - Camouflage-clad commandos carried crying babies away from a school where gunmen holding hundreds of hostages freed at least 26 women and children Thursday during a second day of high drama that kept crowds of distraught relatives on edge.    Men and women wept with disappointment or hugged each other with relief as a man read the names of the freed hostages over a loudspeaker...
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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez sends helicopters to Colombia to pick up three hostages to be freed by Farc rebels.
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A Colombian rebel plan to hand over three ailing hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and a Colombian senator is advancing although their release cannot be rushed, a top guerrilla leader said on Monday.
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Would-be robbers took six people hostage in a bank south of Paris on Tuesday, but all were released unharmed during several hours of negotiations with authorities, and the gunmen surrendered, police said.
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Helicopters sent by Venezuela's president picked up two hostages freed by Colombian rebels in the jungle Thursday and flew the women across the border in a mission that could open a new path to freedom for dozens of captives.
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A group of 24 Filipino hostages kidnapped more than three weeks ago have been freed, a spokesman for Baco-Liner, their employer, said Tuesday.
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After freeing two hostages, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is thought to still hold more than 700 others.
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Two women hostages flown out of Colombian jungle and heading home, says Venezuelan president
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A Greek bus hostage siege ended in the early hours of this morning when all 23 passengers were safely freed and two Albanian gunmen who had demanded a $1 million ransom surrendered, a police spokesman said.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Three UN workers kidnapped in Afghanistan four weeks ago were released unharmed today, a day after a string of raids by US and Afghan security forces.
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Afghanistan&#39;s hardline Taliban movement freed the last of its 19 South Korean hostages late Thursday bringing an end to the six-week kidnapping drama.
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Iraqi kidnappers have freed two Lebanese  men who were taken hostage west of Baghdad last month, their  company's lawyer said on Wednesday.
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Venezuela has started a rescue operation in Colombia to secure the release of two hostages held by leftist rebels, an official said on Thursday, after a similar effort led by President Hugo Chavez collapsed last year.
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Two helicopters sent by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez landed in Colombia Friday on a delicate mission to pluck three hostages from the rebel-held jungle.
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Venezuela's leftist leader is now working to release the 45 hostages, including three Americans, held in Colombia.
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LIMA, Peru  - Peruvian special forces on Tuesday  freed 20 foreign tourists who were briefly taken hostage by  protesting coca growers in an Inca temple in the southern city  of Cuzco, police said.