Freed Hostages Back in US

Three American hostages are back on US soil today for the first time in five years, CNN reports, after a late-night landing at an Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. The men were taken to an Army medical center, where, after undergoing tests and debriefings, they are expected to be reunited with their families.

No current US hostage has been held longer than the military contractors whose plane crashed in rebel territory during a counter-narcotics mission in Colombia. “It’s been a long, long night,” said the father of one of the contractors, who flew from Connecticut to Texas to meet his liberated son. “We have a lot to talk about.” (More Colombia stories.)