Word: ransome
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...Another phone call: a close friend's father, a French-Afghan businessman and relative of the late king, was kidnapped at gunpoint last night, just a few blocks from where Williams was shot this morning. And the kidnappers of the son of another prominent businessman have delivered a ransom note, demanding $20 million...
...this point that the Khmer Rouge guerrillas offered Howes the chance of freedom, instructing him to leave and return with a ransom for the release of his colleagues. A former member of the Royal Engineers and veteran of the war in the Falklands, Howes refused to leave his Cambodian team behind, possibly believing they stood a better chance of survival if he continued to negotiate for their release...
...Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian ship with 33 battle tanks aboard have lowered their ransom demand and say they are eager to negotiate, raising hope that the two-week standoff over the MV Faina will be resolved in a few days. If they're true to their word and the ship is released, the pirates will disappear back into the stew of Somalia and wait for their next opportunity...
...attacked by pirates this year in the same waters. And Ali and his men had no reason to believe the outcome of this hijacking would be any different. In a well-established routine, a vessel is typically held for a few days or weeks while the pirates negotiate a ransom with the ship's owners, usually netting between $500,000 and $2 million. Then ship and crew are then released unharmed. This year, according to a new report by the British think tank Chatham House, the Somali pirate industry has raked in as much as $30 million...
...Today's pirates pursue their prey with outboard motors instead of oars and tote rocket-propelled grenades instead of cutlasses. With upgraded equipment and loftier stakes - the group demanded $20 million in ransom for the Faina's return, a figure that reportedly plunged to $5 million on Oct. 1 - these 21st century buccaneers, like their peg-legged predecessors, are economic opportunists exploiting the largely unpatrolled waterways through which 90% of global trade flows...