https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Several people taken hostage Friday evening in a Paris travel agency were released safe and sound, police said, but the armed robber who seized them was on the run. https://www.thelocal.fr/20161202/armed-robber-takes-seven-hostages-in-paris-travel-agency Fri, 02 Dec 2016 21:01:08 +0100 armed-robber-takes-seven-hostages-in-paris-travel-agency UPDATED: Two men armed with knives killed a priest after taking several people hostage at a French church, before they were shot dead by police. https://www.thelocal.fr/20160726/two-men-take-hostages-at-normandy-church Tue, 26 Jul 2016 12:54:10 +0200 two-men-take-hostages-at-normandy-church UPDATED: French police were desperately trying to track down three gunmen who held 18 people hostage during a hold-up at a Primark store near Paris on Monday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150713/gunmen-hold-up-store-near-paruis Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:53:45 +0200 gunmen-hold-up-store-near-paruis Six people who hid in a supermarket refrigerator during January's Islamist attacks in Paris have sued French media for broadcasting their location live during the siege. https://www.thelocal.fr/20150403/supermaret-hostages-sue-media-over-live-coverage Fri, 03 Apr 2015 10:55:10 +0200 supermaret-hostages-sue-media-over-live-coverage Serge Lazarevic, who is believed to be the last French national being held hostage around the world has been freed in Mali, the French president announced on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20141209/french-hostage-freed-in-mali-hollande Tue, 09 Dec 2014 14:03:00 +0100 french-hostage-freed-in-mali-hollande France has paid out $58 million to free hostages since 2008, putting it top of the world rankings for ransom payments, according to a media report. Although the French government has angrily denied the claims, critics says the policy is creating a lucrative hostage industry. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140730/france-hostages-ranso-payments Wed, 30 Jul 2014 20:27:00 +0200 france-hostages-ranso-payments Mock executions, hunger, thirst, cold, beatings, a makeshift chess game to pass the time... and a "surreal" snowball fight with their jailers. The French journalists taken hostage in Syria have been talking about their ordeal after being released at the weekend. https://www.thelocal.fr/20140422/mock-executions-and-snowball Tue, 22 Apr 2014 10:23:00 +0200 mock-executions-and-snowball The leader of France's National Front party Marine Le Pen has been accused of “paranoid delusion”, after expressing her “unease” on Thursday at the beards and attire of the four Frenchman who were held in captivity by Al Qaeda-linked rebels until their release this week. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131031/hostages-le-pen-hints-at-homeland-scenario-islamist-aqmi-radical Thu, 31 Oct 2013 15:10:00 +0100 hostages-le-pen-hints-at-homeland-scenario-islamist-aqmi-radical Four French hostages held captive by Islamist militants in Niger since 2010 have been released, French president François Hollande announced on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131029/breaking-french-hostages-released-in-niger Tue, 29 Oct 2013 19:31:00 +0100 breaking-french-hostages-released-in-niger An armed man with a history of mental health issues held four people hostage for two hours at a Paris bank Friday, demanding social housing for himself and his son before surrendering to police. https://www.thelocal.fr/20131019/gunman-surrenders-after-taking-four-hostage-in-bank Sat, 19 Oct 2013 13:05:00 +0200 gunman-surrenders-after-taking-four-hostage-in-bank Al-Qaeda's north African branch has released a video purporting to show seven kidnapped Westerners including four Frenchmen, the Mauritanian news agency ANI reported on Monday, footage France's foreign ministry deemed "credible". https://www.thelocal.fr/20130917/al-qaeda-issue-credible-french-hostages-video Tue, 17 Sep 2013 10:48:00 +0200 al-qaeda-issue-credible-french-hostages-video Paris prosecutors said on Thursday that French hostage Philippe Verdon, whose body was flown back to France from Mali this week, was executd by a single shot to the head. Verdon had been kidnapped by Islamist extremists from Al-Qaeda in 2011. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130718/french-hostage-was-executed-by-bullet-to-head Thu, 18 Jul 2013 17:34:00 +0200 french-hostage-was-executed-by-bullet-to-head French President Francois Hollande said Sunday that he had "every reason to believe that the hostages are alive", and that Paris was "always seeking contacts" to free them. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130623/hollande-believes-hostages-alive-paris-seeking-contacts Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:03:00 +0200 hollande-believes-hostages-alive-paris-seeking-contacts A man identified as the father of a kidnapped French family has spoken on a video obtained by AFP on Monday, which claimed to be a recording made by Nigeria's Islamist rebels Boko Haram. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130318/kidnapped-french-father-makes-appeal-in-video Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:13:08 +0100 kidnapped-french-father-makes-appeal-in-video France's defence minister insisted there is "every reason to believe" French hostages being held in the Sahel were still alive, but said there was "no proof" that two top Islamist militants had been killed in Mali. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130305/france-believes-french-sahel-hostages-still-alive Tue, 05 Mar 2013 09:29:00 +0100 france-believes-french-sahel-hostages-still-alive The families of four hostages being held by Al-Qaeda's north African branch on Monday urged the French government to show a "willingness to negotiate" with the militant group. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130304/french-hostage-families-urge-talks-with-al-qaeda Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:48:00 +0100 french-hostage-families-urge-talks-with-al-qaeda France's defence minister on Tuesday ruled out entering into negotiations with the abductors of a French family seized in Cameroon, after a video of the hostages appeared on YouTube. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130226/france-rules-out-negotiating-with-familys-kidnappers Tue, 26 Feb 2013 10:54:00 +0100 france-rules-out-negotiating-with-familys-kidnappers France said on Monday that a video of a kidnapped French family with their abductors, who claimed to be from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, was a "shocking" display of the kidnappers' cruelty. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130225/video-of-kidnapped-french-family-surfaces Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:40:00 +0100 video-of-kidnapped-french-family-surfaces A kidnapped French family of seven has likely been separated into two groups by their abductors, France said, as Nigerian security forces combed restive border areas to find them. https://www.thelocal.fr/20130222/kidnapped-french-family-probably-being-held-in-two-groups Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:34:00 +0100 kidnapped-french-family-probably-being-held-in-two-groups France's Foreign Ministry has denied earlier reports from military sources that the French family kidnapped in the north of the country has been released. The ministry warned against "spreading premature information". https://www.thelocal.fr/20130221/french-hostages-found-safe-in-nigeria-military-source Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:13:00 +0100 french-hostages-found-safe-in-nigeria-military-source