Word: ransoms
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Recently we've become used to the idea of modern-day piracy, as we hear more and more stories of gangs hijacking ships for ransom in the lawless waters of East Africa. But the mysterious disappearance of a 4,000-ton cargo ship off the coast of England two weeks ago suggests the most unlikely of scenarios: buccaneering has returned to Europe...
USAGE: "A group of well-to-do pensioners who lost their savings in the credit crunch staged an arthritic revenge attack and held their terrified financial adviser to ransom [in] the latest example of what is being dubbed 'silver crime'--the violent backlash of pensioners who feel cheated by the world." --Times of London, June...
...Still, South Carolina's deeply conservative voters re-elected him in 2006, and last year Sanford became chairman of the Republican Governors Association. "But he always seemed to care more about his ideology than about rolling up his sleeves and figuring out how to get things done," says Bruce Ransom, a political science professor at Clemson University in South Carolina...
...Afghan photographer working part time for a Western news agency. He and his local colleagues trust that their employers will support them "to a point," he says, but they accept that insurgents are likely to punish them as "traitors" for working with foreigners, absent the prospect of a hefty ransom. "They won't think too much about what to do with us. That's something we have to accept," says the photographer. (Ransom does not appear to have been a factor in Rohde's case, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. denies that it paid a ransom to effect the release...
...Surrender to Thugs, April 27]. The crews of these vessels must be properly equipped and allowed to take the appropriate measures to see off the pirates, or the current ludicrous situation will become a complete farce. As it stands, the pirates stand to gain huge amounts of money in ransom payments, but there is very little downside to their operations, so the piracy is only going to spread. Vincent Bristow, KNYSNA, SOUTH AFRICA...