Freed Journalist Arrives Back in US

Peter Curtis has made it back to the US and been reunited with his mother after nearly two years in the hands of Syrian militants. "I have been so touched and moved, beyond all words, by the people who have come up to me today—strangers on the airplane, the flight attendants, and most of all my family—to say welcome home," the journalist said after flying from Tel Aviv to Boston via Newark, arriving at Logan Airport yesterday evening. Curtis, who was freed by the Nusra Front group over the weekend, said he was "deeply indebted" to those who worked for his release, reports the AP.

His mother, Nancy, tells CNN that she is "overwhelmed by relief" to have her son back, but that it's hard to be "in the mood of celebration" because of the execution of Curtis' fellow journalist James Foley and the continued captivity of others. "After the events of the last week and knowing those other children of my friends are in danger, you know, I have very conflicted emotions," she says. "I've come to know the other families as well, and these kids have a lot in common." She says that when she learned her son had been freed, Foley's mother was the first person she told. (More Peter Theo Curtis stories.)