Midday Roundup: U.S. kills American hostage in al-Qaeda strike

Hostage deaths. A U.S. counterterrorism strike killed two Western hostages earlier this year, the White House said today. The military did not know American Warren Weinstein and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto were present at the al-Qaeda compound near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border prior to the January strike. Weinstein, a contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development, was abducted in Pakistan in 2011. Lo Porto was taken hostage in 2012. “Many within our government spent years attempting to locate and free Dr. Weinstein and Mr. Lo Porto,” a White House statement said. “The pain of their deaths will remain with us as we rededicate ourselves to adhering to the most exact standards in doing all we can to protect the American people.”

Reparations. A Canadian lawyers association must pay the legal fees of a Christian college to which it denied accreditation, a judge ruled Wednesday. In forming the nation’s first Christian law school, Trinity Wesleyan University (TWU) faced opposition from the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society over its student conduct code. TWU prohibits students from having sexual relationships outside of heterosexual marriage. Courts ruled the society could not deny the school accreditation because of it’s conduct code and ordered the society to pay $70,000 for TWU’s legal fees, the Canadian Press reported.

Angry ads. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) must allow ads that feature a man in a checkered headscarf and a quote from Hamas that says, “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah.” The tagline on the ad, which would run on buses and subways, says, “That’s his jihad. What’s yours?” In an unexpected twist, a pro-Israel group called the American Freedom Defense Initiatives purchased the ads to shed light on what it calls the “global jihad and Islamic supremacism.” The MTA wanted to refuse the ads, fearing they would incite violence, but a judge ruled the First Amendment protects them.

Medical bills. The National Football League must pay at least $1.5 million to individual players with concussion-related illnesses, according to a settlement approved Wednesday by a judge. Players could receive up to $5 million depending on their diagnosis. The settlement applies only to retired players.

Property dispute. California produces 99 percent of America’s raisin crop, but Marvin and Laura Horne say the federal government confiscated their raisins to regulate prices, violating their right to just compensation. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Wednesday. A federal law gives the Department of Agriculture the authority to confiscate part of a farm crop to regulate prices. But it’s unclear whether raisins are the type of property that falls under the Constitution’s Takings Clause.

Eruption. The Calbuco Volcano in Southern Chile erupted Wednesday, and the images of lava and ash spewing into the air are stunning. Residents have evacuated the surrounding towns, and no deaths or injuries have been reported. The column of ash and smoke is so large it could collapse on itself and cause a pyroclastic flow, a massive explosion of gas and rock.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard contributed to this report.