Iran Releases Footage of U.S. Sailor Apologizing After Capture
Iranian state-controlled news outlet Tasnim released video Wednesday afternoon that shows a U.S. sailor apologizing for purportedly infringing upon Tehran’s sovereignty.
Images of U.S. Sailors on Their Knees Before Iran Surface as Biden Denies Apology
Iran Has Released Captured U.S. Sailors
Islamic State Looting of Middle East Worst Cultural Devastation Since World War II
Turkish Airlines Kick ‘Unruly’ Russian Women off Flight to Bahrain
Venezuela: Chavista Supreme Court Declares Opposition Legislature Void
Earnest: Destabilizing Behavior Being ‘A Hallmark of Iranian Behavior’ Is Why We Pursued the Nuclear Deal
Tom Cotton: Obama ‘Seems Intent on Protecting Iran and the Nuclear Deal Than Getting Our Sailors Back’
Psaki: ‘No Plans’ To Address Iran Capturing Sailors, Revoking Deal Over This Isn’t ‘What We Want To See’
Featured Contributors
SOTU: Obama Defends Muslims, Silence for Persecuted Christians and Jews
Nigeria Declares Defeat of Boko Haram Despite String of Recent Attacks
North Korea: Scientists ‘in High Spirits’ to Destroy U.S. ‘All at Once’ with H-Bombs
Afghanistan: Faulty USAID GPS Data May Expose U.S.-Funded Hospitals to Attack
National Security
Yemen Houthis Loot U.S. Counterterror Intel from Captured Computers
“Secret files held by Yemeni security forces that contain details of American intelligence operations in the country have been looted by Iran-backed militia leaders, exposing names of confidential informants and plans for U.S.-backed counter-terrorism strikes,” reports the L.A. Times.
Saudis Could Be Shopping for Nukes in Pakistan
Iran will not be the last Middle Eastern nation to get atomic weapons after President Obama formalizes the collapse of Western resistance to nuclear proliferation. Also, they probably won’t be the first.
Nobel Prize-Winning Author V.S. Naipaul: ISIS Is the ‘Fourth Reich’
Nobel Prize-winning author V.S. Naipaul says ISIS represents the closest thing the world has seen to a “Fourth Reich” and urges world leaders to expand the military campaign against them to ensure their “annihilation.”
Amnesty International: Palestinian Terror Groups Committed War Crimes During Israel-Hamas 2014 War
Palestinian terrorist groups committed international war crimes by indiscriminately firing rockets in attempts to kill Jewish Israeli civilians during the summer 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, Amnesty International alleges in a new report published on Thursday.
Germanwings Co-Pilot Took Training Break to Deal with Depression and Burnout
It looks as if we have an answer to one of this morning’s lingering questions about Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who evidently seized control of his plane and drove it into the Alps, killing 150 people. Lufthansa earlier divulged that Lubitz took a long break from his pilot training. Now the UK Daily Mail has more details about that episode, saying he suspended training in 2008 “because he was suffering from depression and burnout.”
Amnesty International Alleges Palestinians Committed War Crimes
Palestinian terrorist groups violated international law and blatantly disregarded civilian lives by consistently firing missiles indiscriminately into Israel during last summer’s war with Israel, Amnesty International reports.
Another Iran Concession: Sure, You Can Run Centrifuges In Your Fortified Underground Bunker
The latest Associated Press dispatch from nuclear negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, reads like satire: “The United States is considering letting Tehran run hundreds of centrifuges at a once-secret, fortified underground bunker in exchange for limits on centrifuge work and research and development at other sites, officials have told The Associated Press.”
Pictures: Fire Rages at Building Collapse in NYC, Reasons Yet Unknown
A building in New York City’s East Village collapsed on Thursday afternoon, with the New York Post reporting that up to 30 people have been injured. Witnesses flooded social media with pictures and descriptions of the building.
Venezuelan MLB Stars Seek American Citizenship
Venezuela, a fertile ground for major-league talent, now repels many of the players it produced.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Explains to Jon Stewart How Islam Differs from Other Religions
World-renowned author and staunch critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali appeared on the The Daily Show this week, where host Jon Stewart attempted to challenge her assertion that Islam is different from the world’s three major Abrahamic religions–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam–as Hirsi Ali asserts in her latest book, Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now.
Venezuelan President Vows ‘Door to Door’ Campaign Collecting Signatures Against Obama
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has vowed to collect millions of signatures for a petition against American President Barack Obama, demanding that he repeal executive sanctions against high-ranking armed forces officials in the country over human rights abuses against anti-socialist protesters.
Iraq Cozies Up to Assad as Syria Looks to Unite Coalition against ISIS–and US
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari visited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in an event that appears intended to strengthen ties between Baghdad and Damascus in light of their mutually shared threat of Islamic State (ISIS) invasion. Iraq’s desire to forge stronger ties with Assad flies in the face of American diplomatic efforts to isolate the dictator after his alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians.
Reality Check: Six Soldiers Died Searching for Bowe Bergdahl
On June 4, Breitbart News reported the names of six soldiers who lost their lives searching for Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl after he was reported missing in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on June 30, 2009.
US To Control The Skies Over Tikrit… While Iran Takes The Ground?
Two weeks ago, the seemingly effective Iraqi operation to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS ground to an abrupt halt, the “final push” delayed for an indefinite period out of concerns over collateral damage, according to Iraqi officials. It was widely speculated the more pertinent problem was that Islamic State forces proved to be much harder to dislodge than anyone wanted to admit, so time was needed to bring up reinforcements and prepare the battlespace.
UN OK’s Same-Sex Spousal Benefits After US and EU Convince Countries to Abstain from Vote
The budget committee of the United Nations is usually sparsely attended and, to all but technical experts, downright boring, but on Tuesday morning it was packed and, for a budget committee meeting, downright lively, even contentious. The issue was spousal benefits for LGBT couples.
10-Country ‘Decisive Storm’ Military Operation Commences Against Iran-Backed Houthis in Yemen
A coalition of over ten countries, with the backing of the United States, has commenced a full-scale military operation against the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.
Obama’s Latest Concession to Iran: Inspection Demands ‘Revised’ Down
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Obama administration’s “revisions” to the Iranian nuclear deal include abandoning crucial demands for U.N. inspection of suspected weapons sites that Iran has been resisting for years, even during the toughest of economic sanctions.
Russia Agrees to Build Jordan’s First Nuclear Power Plant
Russia signed a $10 billion deal to build Jordan’s first nuclear power plant. It is the third nuclear deal for Russia and the second within that region.
Venezuela Cuts Oil Exports to Caribbean in Half as Havana Warms up to Washington
In a surprising assessment that indicates the Venezuelan economy is doing worse than its socialist government has indicated, a Barclay’s report on the nation’s oil exports show that the nation has reduced exports of crude to the Caribbean by at least half, including exports to its greatest political ally, Cuba.
Travel Schedules Suggest Iran ‘Deal’ to be Staged Sunday
Travel schedules of Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif suggest that the parties may gather for a “signing” ceremony on Sunday, March 29 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Tunisia: Despite ISIS Takeover of Star Wars-Inspired Town, Movie Sets Safe
The Islamic State has taken over at least parts of the Tunisian town of Tataouine, with over 4,000 jihadists currently housed there. The government of Tunisia insists, however, that the town’s most recognizable pop culture institution remains safe from jihadist destruction.
Missing Pieces Of the Germanwings Puzzle
French authorities released much new information about the horrible Germanwings crash in the Alps this morning, but some vital questions remain unanswered. Why is the French prosecutor so firmly convinced that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed the plane?
Turkish Cartoonists Sentenced to Prison for Erdogan Gay Joke
The Islamist government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sentenced two cartoonists to 11 months in prison for drawing a magazine cover in which some claim it is implied that Erdogan is homosexual. The cartoon also overtly depicts Erdogan discussing killing journalists.
In Context of Desertion Charges, Bergdahl Swap Was a ‘High Crime’
The news that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is to be tried for desertion casts the 2014 prisoner swap in a new light. President Barack Obama traded five senior Taliban leaders, who had been imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, for Bergdahl–and did so without giving Congress 30 days’ advance notice. In doing so, the Obama administration broke the law, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That violation was not just a crime, but also, in context, a high crime.
Counterterrorist Operation Takes Down ISIS Cell in Northern Italy
ROME, Italy– At dawn on Wednesday, Italian special forces executed the final stage of a counterterrorist operation, breaking up an ISIS terrorist cell in northern Italy.
