The president of France, Francois Hollande says four French hostages seized by Islamist militants in Niger more than three years ago have been released. They were kidnapped by al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb from the uranium mining town of Arlit. The foreign minister Laurent Fabius said no ransom had been paid. Now our West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy reports.

The details of how the hostages were released have yet to emerge but the French President Francois Hollande has thanked his Nigerian counterparts for securing their freedom. The four men working for the French mining company Areva were captured more than 1,000 days ago in September 2010 by al-Qaeda militants. Both French ministers of foreign affairs and defense are on their way to the West African country to bring the four free men back home.

The United Nations General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the US embargo against Cuba. Only two out of 200 countries, the US and Israel voted against the resolution. The American sanctions against Communist Cuba have been in place for more than five decades.

A Brazilian surfer is thought to have broken the record for the largest wave ever surfed during the storm that battered Western Europe on Monday. Carlos Burle was filmed riding a wall of water around 30 meters high off the coast of Portugal. He also said the life of her fellow Brazilian surfer who nearly drowned in the huge swirl.

BBC News