Midday Roundup: Abedini, other captives arrive in Germany

Road to recovery. Three Americans released Saturday from captivity in Iran have arrived at Ramstein Airforce Base in Germany, where they are receiving medical treatment. Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati, and Pastor Saeed Abedini arrived in Germany on Sunday, and President Barack Obama phoned their loved ones to express his support. “I just had a wonderful call with @BarackObama @POTUS!” tweeted Saeed Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh. “Our family is so thankful for all the hard work and support in bringing Saeed home.” Abedini was imprisoned for more than three years in Iran for his Christian faith. His wife is expected to arrive in Germany on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.

Joining the fight. In the wake of a weekend terror attack that killed up to 32 people, including an American missionary, Burkina Faso announced a joint effort with Mali to fight jihadi elements in West Africa. The attack on a café and hotel popular with foreigners was the first of its kind in Burkina Faso, a largely Muslim country that has avoided the kinds of jihadist attacks that have hit neighboring Mali since 2012. The prime ministers of Burkina Faso and Mali met Sunday and agreed to share intelligence and have joint patrols along shared borders.

Whereabouts unknown. Several Americans who went missing in Baghdad this weekend were kidnapped, local sources say, but accounts vary about where and why they were taken. The missing individuals are Iraqis who received American citizenship, The Washington Post reported, and Fox News reported they worked as civilian contractors at the Baghdad International Airport. The U.S. Embassy confirmed several Americans were missing and attempts were being made to locate them. Iraqi security forces fanned out across the Baghdad neighborhood, closing streets and conducting house-to-house searches near where the Americans were last seen.

Speech and debate. Donald Trump spoke today at Liberty University, where other presidential candidates such as Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ben Carson, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have addressed students in recent months. Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. said he invited Trump to campus on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on purpose. “We chose that day so that Mr. Trump would have the opportunity to recognize and honor Dr. King on MLK day,” Falwell told The News & Advance of Lynchburg, Va. A group of Liberty students protested the speech, saying many of Trump’s statements do not reflect King’s values. “Mr. Trump uses speech to divide along racial lines, gender lines, ethnic and national lines, and between those with disabilities and the healthy,” student Eli McCowan wrote on Facebook.

Money beat. Last week was rough for stocks, with major U.S. indexes down between 2 and 3 percent—8 to 10 percent since the first of the year. Wells Fargo economist John Silva said antsy investors may be tempted to jump ship, but that rarely pays off in the long run.Meanwhile, the price of oil fell to below $30 a barrel, ending at the lowest price-per-barrel since 2003. Several factors are putting downward pressure on oil prices, including reduced demand from China and a stronger U.S. dollar. In other economic news, Walmart announced last week it is closing 269 stores around the world, including all of its smaller Walmart Express locations in the United States and about 100 stores in Latin America. The stores slated for closing just aren’t generating enough revenue, analysts said.

WORLD Radio’s Joseph Slife and The Associated Press contributed to this report.