Barack Obama allows US hostage families to pay ransoms

The White House has announced changes to how the government handles hostage situations that involve US citizens.

President Barack Obama has directed the US government not to threaten the hostages' families with prosecution if they attempt to pay ransoms.

The changes come at the conclusion of a review into the US policy, which was ordered after the deaths of several American hostages in the past year.

The BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher reports.